Wesley Memorial Church, Oxford

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Wesley Memorial Church
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church
NewInnHallSt WesleyMemorialChurch 6058.jpg
East front of the church, showing the steeple
Wesley Memorial Church, Oxford
51°45′11″N1°15′39″W / 51.753165°N 1.260779°W / 51.753165; -1.260779
Location New Inn Hall Street
Oxford
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Methodist Church of Great Britain
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s) Charles Bell [1]
Style English Gothic/Gothic Revival [1]
Years built1877–78 (by Joshua Symm) [2]
Administration
District Northampton
Circuit Oxford

Wesley Memorial Church is a Methodist church in central Oxford, England. John and Charles Wesley studied in Oxford, and the congregation was founded in 1783. [2] The present church building was completed in 1878. [1] The building is now a focus for various social activities as well as Christian worship.

Contents

History

Oxford's first Methodist meeting house was a building on the east side of New Inn Hall Street. It is now numbered 32–34 and is part of Brasenose College. A plaque on the wall commemorates the fact that John Wesley preached there on 4 July 1783.

New Inn Hall Street Chapel 1818-1878

In 1815 Oxford Methodists started to plan and raise funds and support for a Chapel to be built in the centre of Oxford. A plot on New Inn Hall Street was purchased from Daniel Harris in 1817, and the chapel, designed by William Jenkins, was opened on 19 February 1818.

The congregation later moved to the current building, constructed in front of the chapel,when it was opened in 1878, although the chapel continued in use as a teaching space until it was sold to St Peter's College in the 1930s. The building was demolished in 1969. [3]

Current building

The present Gothic Revival building was started in 1877 and opened in October 1878. [2] The architect Charles Bell designed it in a revival of Decorated Gothic. [1] The building contractor was Joshua Symm. Henry Frith of Gloucester carved the capitals of the columns, which portray twelve different kinds of English plants. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 299.
  2. 1 2 3 Hibbert 1988, p. 495.
  3. ↑ "Oxford: New Inn Hall Street Chapel". Wesleys Oxford. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "A history of Wesley Memorial". Oxford: Wesley Memorial Church. Retrieved 25 September 2012.

Sources


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