John Wesley's New Room is a historic building in

Broadmead, Bristol Broadmead is a street in the central area of Bristol, England, which has given its name to the principal shopping district of the city. It is part of Bristol Shopping Quarter. History The name of the street was first recorded in 1383 as ''B ...

, England. Opened in 1739, it housed the earliest Methodist societies, and was enlarged in 1748. As the oldest purpose-built

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

preaching house (chapel), it has been designated by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. A Methodist museum is housed in the preachers' rooms above the chapel. The courtyards around the building contain statues of

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

and his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

History and architecture

In March 1739 John Wesley began preaching in the open fields at Bristol, and founded societies there. Under Wesley's direction, the building followed two months later, making it the oldest purpose-built Methodist chapel in the world. He called it "our New Room in the Horsefair". The chapel was built with a double-decker

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, which was common at the time, and is lighted by an octagonal lantern window to reduce the amount paid in

window tax Window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France, and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To avoid the tax, some houses from the p ...

. In addition to meetings and worship, the New Room was used as a dispensary and schoolroom for the poor people of the area. The pews and benches were made from old ship timber. The Baldwin and Nicholas Street Methodist societies combined to form the United Society, which met at the New Room from 3 June 1739. Wesley insisted that meetings at the New Room should only be held outside of

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church hours as he wanted Methodism to complement rather than compete with Anglican worship. New Room

In 1748 it was extended, possibly by the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

architect George Tully in view of the stylistic similarities with the Friends' Meeting House at

Quakers Friars Quakers Friars () is a historic building in Broadmead, Bristol, England. The site is the remains of a Dominican friary, Blackfriars that was established by Maurice de Gaunt, c. 1227. Llywelyn ap Dafydd the eldest son and heir of Dafydd ap Gruf ...

of the same period. John Wesley believed that

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

worship should be carried out in churches, and only reluctantly allowed the enlarged New Room to comply with the Toleration Act of 1689, making it a formal place of worship. Rooms were built above the chapel, in which Wesley and other travelling preachers stayed. Wesley lived at the New Room from 1748 to 1771 and administered Holy Communion there when his brother

was away. Wesley added to the Methodist offer in Bristol by selling his published works from a bookstore in the New Room. Analysis of the complete printed output of Bristol between 1695 and 1775 shows that over half was written by Methodists. After Wesley's death, in 1808 the property passed into the hands of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. In 1929 it was bought back by the Wesleyan Methodist Church. The

John Snetzler John Snetzler (or Schnetzler) was an organ builder of Swiss origin, who worked mostly in England. Born in Schaffhausen in 1710, he trained with the firm of Egedacher in Passau and came to London about 1741. When he retired in 1781, his business ...

Chamber Organ of 1761 is a 20th-century addition following the restoration of the building in 1929 by Sir George Oatley. American Soldiers Visit Wesley's Chapel, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, UK, 12 April 1945 D24412

American Soldiers Visit Wesley's Chapel, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, UK, 12 April 1945 D24412

A garden in the Broadmead Courtyard was opened on 24 May 2011 by the Lord Mayor of Bristol. This was followed by the opening of the Horsefair Visitor Centre on 13 July 2017 by

the Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

. The new facilities include a café, library and archive and conference and education facilities, plus an expanded interactive museum housed in the twelve upstairs rooms of the 1748 building. As the oldest purpose-built Methodist building in the world it has become a centre of international pilgrimage.

References

External links

*
The New Room (John Wesley's Chapel)
– Methodist Heritage {{Culture in Bristol Churches completed in 1739 New Room Museums in Bristol Religious museums in England Biographical museums in Bristol Chapels in England History of Methodism 1739 establishments in England 18th-century Methodist church buildings 18th-century churches in the United Kingdom

History and architecture

See also

References

External links