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}}Wesley's Chapel (originally the City Road Chapel) is a Methodist church situated in the St Luke's area in the south of the London Borough of Islington. Opened in 1778, it was built under the direction of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. The site is a place of worship and visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism in its crypt and John Wesley's House next to the chapel. The chapel has been called "The Mother Church of World Methodism".Along with the associated Leysian Mission, Wesley's Chapel is a circuit of the London District of the Methodist Church. The chapel has an average Sunday service attendance of about 440.WEB, Circuit Membership Statistics Summary October 2012,weblink Statistics for Mission, Methodist Church in Britain, 25 December 2013,

History and architecture

In 1776 Methodist leader John Wesley applied to the City of London for a site to build his new chapel and was granted an area of land on City Road. After raising funds from across the ConnexionWEB, Vickers, John A, Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London,weblink dmbi.online, A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland, 12 June 2020, the foundation stone for the chapel was laid on 21 April 1777. The architect was George Dance the Younger, surveyor to the City of London, and the builder was Samuel Tooth, a member of Wesley's Foundery society. The chapel was formally opened with a service on 1 November 1778. The City Road Chapel was established to replace Wesley's earlier London chapel, the Foundery, where he first preached on 11 November 1739.WEB, Wesley's Chapel – timeline,weblink Museum of Methodism, 14 November 2015, 22 August 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150822061656weblink">weblink dead, File:John Wesley preaching in the City Chapel. Engraving by T. Bl Wellcome V0006869.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|John WesleyJohn WesleyWesley's Chapel is constructed in brown brick laid in Flemish bond with dressings of yellow brick and stone. The building has Grade I listed status and is a fine example of Georgian architecture,{{NHLE |num=1195538 |access-date=22 January 2009}} although it has been altered and improved since it was built. For example, the original plain windows were replaced with stained glass. In 1864, the gallery was modernised, its front lowered and raked seating installed. Around the gallery is motif in relief supposedly designed by Wesley: a dove with an olive branch in its beak encircled by a serpent following its own tail.AV MEDIA, This Great Light Life & Legacy of John Wesley, Spiral productions, 2013, video, YouTube, 9,weblinkweblink 18 December 2021, live, {{cbignore}} The Adam style ceiling was replaced by a replica following a fire in 1879.Another major refurbishment of 1891 was carried out by Holloway Brothers, collaborating with the Methodist architects Elijah HooleWEB,weblink Historic England List Entry No 1195538, 1 May 2021, and William Willmer Pocock. (There is a memorial stained glass window dedicated to Pocock.) The foundations were reinforced, the apse windows were enlarged to accommodate the stained glass, and new pews were installed. The pillars supporting the gallery were originally ships' masts donated by King George III, but these were replaced by French jasper pillars donated from Methodist churches overseas.WEB, History: Wesley's Chapel,weblink Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131227025403weblink">weblink 27 December 2013, 20 January 2014, Only the top section of the original three-decker pulpit survives. An organ was installed in 1882 and the present organ in 1891; it was electrified in 1905 and in 1938 its pipes were moved to their present position at the rear of the gallery.WEB,weblink Organ, Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140201191137weblink">weblink 1 February 2014, 4 March 2013, The location of the sanctuary (including the original communion table against the wall) in an apse behind the pulpit was common in the 'auditory' churches of the 18th century, but few other examples survive today. The present sanctuary in front of the pulpit dates from restoration work in the 1970s. Among other alterations, the foundations were again strengthened due to subsistence and the roof was replaced. The chapel was officially reopened on 1 November 1978, by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The present communion rail was gifted in 1993 by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,HANSARD,weblink Death of a Member: Baroness Thatcher, 10 April 2013, House of Lords, 744, 1154, WEB,weblink Communion table and rail, RE:Quest, 13 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110615232945weblink">weblink 15 June 2011, who was married in the chapel in 1951.NEWS,weblink Eliza, Filby, Margaret Thatcher: her unswerving faith shaped by her father, The Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2013, 10 January 2017, A memorial to Susanna Wesley stands just inside the gate, and her grave is situated in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, opposite the chapel.WEB, Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Mission, John Wesley's House and the Museum of Methodism {{!, Methodist Heritage|url=http://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/wesleyschapel.htm|access-date=8 September 2020|website=www.methodistheritage.org.uk}}The chapel has always been served by two or more ministers, and local preachers lead services on occasion. The first woman to preach in Wesley's Chapel was Agnes Elizabeth Slack, in 1926.BOOK, Maria Zina Gonçalves de Abreu, Women Past and Present: Biographic and Multidisciplinary Studies,weblink 2014, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 978-1-4438-6114-4, 128–130,

Image gallery

Wesley's Chapel during Wikimania 2014 by-RaBoe 68.jpg|ApseWesley's Chapel during Wikimania 2014 by-RaBoe 81.jpg|Gallery and pulpitWesley's Chapel during Wikimania 2014 by-RaBoe 82.jpg|Pews, table and rail, and the organ in the gallery

The site

(File:John Wesley's House Exterior.jpg|thumb|upright|Exterior of the house)The chapel is set within a cobbled courtyard off City Road, with the chapel at the furthest end and Wesley's house on the right.

John Wesley's House

John Wesley's House, a mid-Georgian townhouse, was built in 1779 at the same time as the chapel.BOOK, Stephen Inwood, Historic London: An Explorer's Companion,weblink 2012, Pan Macmillan, 978-0-230-75252-8, 97–, It was also resolved to provide a separate residence for John Wesley, who had lived many years in an apartment above the Foundry. ... After living nearly forty years above the Foundry, John Wesley occupied his new home in 1779. Today, it is ..., It was Wesley's residence for the last eleven years of his life. He is commemorated by a blue plaque on the City Road frontage. This Grade I listed building is open to visitors as a historic house museum. It was built by Wesley and designed by George Dance the younger, at that time the surveyor of the City of London.Wesley lived in the house for the last twelve years of his life and died in his bedroom. The house was also used to accommodate travelling preachers and their families. The household servants also lived on the premises. The house continued to be used for travelling preachers after Wesley's death until it was turned into a museum in the 1900s.In the dining room his Chamber Horse is set up which he used for exercise; on display in the study is his electric machine which was used for the treatment of illness.BOOK, Users and Abusers of Psychiatry: A Critical Look at Psychiatric Practice,weblink limited, Johnstone, Lucy, 152, Routledge, 0-415-21155-7, 2000, John Wesley Blue Badge.jpg|John Wesley blue plaqueJohn Wesley's House- Study.jpg|John Wesley's House – StudyJohn Wesley's House- Kitchen.jpg|John Wesley's House – KitchenJohn Wesley's Electric Machine.png|John Wesley's Electric MachineJohn Wesley's Chamber Horse.jpg|John Wesley's Chamber Horse

Courtyard, gardens and cemetery

{{multiple image| align=right| direction=horizontal| total_width=300| image1=Statue of John Wesley, Wesley's Chapel.jpgStatue of John Wesley, Shoreditch>Statue by John Adams-Acton| image2=Tomb of John Wesley (29944306907).jpg| caption2=Wesley's tomb}}At the front of Wesley's House is a small physic garden which contains herbs mentioned in Wesley's book, The Primitive Physic. It details ways in which common people could cure themselves using natural medicines as they couldn't afford a doctor.WEB, Wesley and Well-being,weblink www.methodistheritage.org.uk, Methodist Heritage, 16 April 2021, Wesley set up the first free dispensary in London giving out medical advice and remedies at his Foundery chapel.Wesley died on 2 March 1791. His tomb is in the garden at the rear of the chapel alongside the graves of six of his preachers, and those of his sister Martha Hall and his doctor and biographer, Dr John Whitehead.A bronze statue of Wesley with the inscription "the world is my parish" stands at the entrance to the courtyard; created in 1891 by John Adams-Acton, the sculpture is Grade II listed.WEB, England, Historic, Statue of John Wesley in the forecourt of Wesley's Chapel, Islington – 1195540,weblink www.historicengland.org.uk, Historic England, 6 September 2017, Elijah Hoole was responsible for the 10-foot high granite pedestal on which the statue stands.NEWS,weblink THE CENTENNIAL WESLEY STATUE., Christian Colonist, XIII, 32, South Australia, 15 May 1891, 2 May 2021, 8, National Library of Australia,

Victorian lavatory

The site also houses one of the few surviving examples of a gentleman's convenience built by the sanitary engineer Thomas Crapper in 1891.NEWS, Visit One Of London's Most Opulent Toilets,weblink 4 February 2019, Londonist, 30 December 2016, en, BOOK, Hodges, Kate, London in an Hour, 17 March 2016, Random House, 978-0-7535-5128-8,weblink en-gb, Wesley's Chapel Toilets, The most stylish, elegant public bathrooms in London,

The Leysian Mission

(File:Leysian Mission building, City Road, EC1 - geograph.org.uk - 1087963.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Leysian Mission building, City Road)In 1886 former pupils of The Leys School, Cambridge founded a mission in nearby Whitecross Street. The aim was to improve the lives of the impoverished inhabitants of this part of the East End of London.WEB, Leysian Mission, London,weblink dmbi.online, A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland, 13 June 2020, In 1904 the mission moved to a new site in Old Street, very near Wesley's Chapel. It provided medical facilities, legal advice, financial and dietary assistance, as well as religious services and musical events. After World War II the mission sold the buildings and merged with Wesley's Chapel in 1989.WEB,weblink "What is the Leysian Mission?" at wesleyschapel.org.uk, 7 October 2012, 4 March 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160304061352weblink">weblink dead,

The chapel today

The chapel is home to a multiculturalWEB, Bloom, Linda, Wesley's Chapel makes history relevant today,weblink United Methodist News Service, 29 July 2021, en, 9 May 2018, congregation with a membership of 439. It is a working church with daily prayer, Sunday Holy Communion services and several weekday services. It is known for its relatively "high church" sacramental liturgy.BOOK, Vickers, John A., Wesley's Chapel, 1994, Pitkin, London, 978-0-85372-652-4, 19,weblink In the Sistine Chapel, The superintendent minister is Canon Jennifer Smith.WEB, Revd Dr Jen Smith,weblink methodistlondon.org.uk, London District of the Methodist Church, 4 February 2019, en, Wesley's Chapel is in an ecumenical partnership with the Anglican St Giles' Cripplegate parish church, Jewin Welsh Presbyterian Church, and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church.WEB, City churches to sign ecumenical partnership,weblink rcdow.org.uk, Catholic Diocese of Westminster, 28 July 2021, en-gb, 20 January 2020, It shares a close relationship with the Friends meeting house at Bunhill Fields.

Museum of Methodism

The Museum of Methodism, housed in the chapel's crypt, contains artefacts and relics relating to Methodism, including several of Wesley's speeches and essays on theology, the "warmed heart" "contemplative space", Thomas Coke's writing slope or desk and Donald Soper's portable preaching stand.WEB, Museum of Methodism,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170407173718weblink">weblink dead, 7 April 2017, Wesley's Chapel & Leysian Mission, 20 January 2014, "Museum of Methodism" leaflet, available at the Museum The museum was created in 1978 and was refurbished in 2014, with the last case being installed in early 2016 thanks to a donation.{{clear}}John Wesley's Death Mask.jpg|John Wesley's Death MaskJohn Wesley Ship.jpg|John Wesley ShipJohn Wesley Ceramics.jpg|John Wesley Ceramics

See also

• List of Methodist churches
• New Room, Bristol
• Charles Wesley's House

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References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• George John Stevenson, City Road Chapel, London, and its Associations, Historical, Biographical, and Memorial (1872)

External links

{{Commons category|Wesley's Chapel}}

• Wesley's Chapel, London – official website
• The Museum of Methodism & John Wesley's House – official website
• Wesley's Chapel and Museum of Methodism – Sacred Destinations
• Virtual Tour of Wesley's Chapel – RE:Quest
• Wesley's Chapel The Museum of Methodism & The John Wesley House – AboutBritain
• Profile at Visit London – London's official website
• {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

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