Wesley Methodist Church
A Gothic Revival Methodist church of 1913 beside Christ's Pieces, listed Grade II and with Sunday worship.
Wesley Methodist Church stands next to Christ's Pieces in the middle of Cambridge. It is Grade II listed, and the listing covers the church together with its attached library. The building is Gothic Revival in style, and it is named after John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism.
Why it was built
The congregation was founded in 1913 with a university audience in mind: the president of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of the day said the aim was to attract and keep, rather than repel, the young Methodists who came to the University. The new church replaced an 1849 Wesleyan chapel on Hobson Street; that plot was afterwards developed for the Cambridgeshire County Hall.
The building
A major refurbishment in 1990 cost 1.3 million pounds. It brought in an organ by William Hill dated 1844. The church is one of two Methodist churches within the city, the other being on Castle Street, and one of thirteen in the Cambridge Methodist Circuit. It keeps close links with Wesley House, the Methodist theological college, and with The Leys School.
Practical notes
This is a working church. Its website gives Sunday worship from 10:30 to 11:30, with coffee afterwards and everyone welcome, and says some services are live-streamed. The church describes itself as a member of the Inclusive Church Network and offers rooms for hire. The student Methodist society meets weekly in the Upper Room.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
