historical house
George Dance the Younger, 1778
49 City Road, EC1Y 1AU
A fine example of a largely unaltered modest Georgian house, built in 1778 for John Wesley as his London base. Wesley's Chapel is adjacent and was completed at the same time. The chapel was altered internally during Victorian times, when the men's marble toilet facilities and Thomas Crapper toilets were also added.
Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Old Street
Liverpool Street
21, 43, 76, 141, 205, 214, 271
Please note the house has a steep staircase and narrow doorways with no lift. The ground floor of the chapel is wheelchair accessible.
11:00–15:00
Wesley's Chapel was completed in 1778 at a time when land to the North of the City of London was being rapidly developed. It was the first purpose-built Methodist chapel in London, serving non-conformist Christians from a wide social spectrum. A modest townhouse was built at the same time as the chapel as the home for John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement. He lived here until his death in 1791. The house is largely unaltered and is a rare example of a brick built Georgian townhouse in this part of London.
John Wesley's House and Wesley's Chapel were both designed by architect George Dance the Younger, and constructed in yellow London brick by local builder Samuel Tooth. John Wesley believed buildings should be functional and modest, and that surplus funds should be spent on helping the many people in need in Georgian London, rather than on fancy decoration. He described the chapel on opening in 1778 as "neat but not fine," meaning that it was fit for purpose but had no elaborate decoration, as planned.
The house is of modest size, given John Wesley's fame by the 1770s and the number of visiting preachers he would often have staying, with two rooms per floor and five stories including the basement. The house retains many original features and is an excellent example of a grade 1 Georgian townhouse.
While the house remains much as it was when John Wesley lived there, the interior of the chapel was much altered in the Victorian period. Marble pillars, new pews, mosaic floors and stained glass windows were added, funded by Methodist communities from around the world, on the centenary of Wesley's death in 1891. This is also when the impressive toilet facilities were added to the site, the gentlemen's being unaltered since then. These are open for visitors to see, with Thomas Crapper toilets in original wooden cubicles and marble sinks and urinals.
Meet the housemaid, cook and visitors to the house in Georgian costume!
Please note that the house has steep staircases and narrow doorways.
Drop in
civic, art in the public realm, community/cultural, entertainment, mixed use, theatre, concert/performance space
Originally opened in 1866, Shoreditch Town Hall is a Grade II listed, landmark building, and was for over 100 years one of the grandest Vestry Halls in London. Today, Shoreditch Town Hall is a leading cultural, community and live events space made up of 70 individual rooms - from the Victorian grandeur of the Assembly Hall to the intimate warren of the untouched basement space.
Caesar Augustus Long, 1866
Guided tour
institution/profession, historical house
A rare opportunity to explore the Georgian headquarters of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), the UK’s oldest building conservation charity, not normally open to the public.
Unknown, 1740
