The New Room, John Wesley Chapel, Bristol

Methodist heritage is rarely so well represented as it is by Bristol’s chapel, the design and architecture alone worthy of an easy pilgrimage in the heart of the city

Highlights

• First Methodist building
• Missionary base of John and Charles Wesley

The New Room is the first building erected by Methodists. The foundation stone was laid by John Wesley on 12 May 1739. He regarded Methodism as a reform movement within the Anglican church, so his New Room was not originally designed as a chapel. It served instead as a meeting room for elders to discuss their theology and plan their missions. Within a decade it had developed into a place of worship, as John and Charles Wesley found themselves increasingly excluded from the established church.

The New Room is still an active chapel, and draws Methodist pilgrims from across the world. Some of the Wesley brothers’ passion and energy infuse the bare wooden interior. Like them, it had but one purpose, to spread the word of God. From every angle, the double-decker pulpit dominates. You can stand in it and gaze at the wooden benches once filled with audiences rapt by John Wesley’s sermons. He stood on the top deck to preach. In one of the rooms upstairs, there is also a curious angled windowsill that served as his writing desk, another Wesleyan innovation in interior design.

Further traces of the Wesley brothers are to be found in the newly built visitor centre, next to the chapel in the Horsefair Courtyard, which also has a cafe and library. The museum has plenty of their personal artefacts, including the chair from which John Wesley delivered his last outdoor sermon (he died in 1791 at the advanced age of 87). By coincidence, the pulpit from which he delivered his first is also in this book, at South Leigh in Oxfordshire.

Though the New Room is the first Methodist building, it has not been in continuous use due to a period of ownership by Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, a similar but separate movement. Even so, the building preserves in near-perfect condition its 18th-century design. It has a peaceful air about it, at odds with its location in the heart of Bristol’s busy shopping district. Despite being a reformed church movement, the early Methodists were fond of effigies – particularly of the Wesley brothers, as the museum amply demonstrates with numerous busts and portraits. If you enter the New Room from the Horsefair, there is a statue of Charles Wesley at the front, while the Broadmead entrance has John Wesley on horseback.

The attendant in the museum was enthusiastic about the notion of holy places, and gave me a beautiful booklet called Methodist Heritage, listing 100 other important places in the movement’s history. The campaign to celebrate this rich history continues apace, including research online at: www.methodistheritage.org.uk. Two pilgrim routes now visit the chapel, A Bristol Pilgrimage (search on www.methodist.org.uk) and A Wesley Walk in Bristol (search on visitbristol.co.uk).

Directions‍

The New Room, 36 The Horsefair, Bristol, BS1 3JE

www.newroombristol.org.uk

W3W: films.master.palms

GPS: 51.4580N 2.5902W

The New Room is open Mon–Sat 10:30 am–4 pm. There are courtyard entrances on both Broadmead and Horsefair, near Merchant Street. A short service of Holy Communion is held on Friday at 1 pm. There is no charge other than voluntary donations to visit the New Room, while museum charges apply; tickets valid for 12 months.