Plaque number 91 can be found at this location.
John Wesley
This plaque can be found on the church along St Edmund's Church Street.
The O/S grid position is SU nnnnn East nnnnn North.
SALISBURY CIVIC SOCIETY
Revd John Wesley MA
founder of Methodism
and eight Salisbury citizens
erected the first preaching house
on this site in 1759
SALISBURY METHODIST CHURCH
John Wesley (1703-91) was a priest of the Church of England. He returned disillusioned from his mission in the American colonies in 1738. He had an experience in which, he recorded, his heart was ‘strangely warmed’ and led to the Evangelical Revival among craftsmen, traders and agricultural workers. He preached in the open-air and formed societies of enthusiasts, called ‘Methodists’. They followed a discipline of attendance, prayer, bible study and deeds of charity.
He visited Salisbury in 1738 to see his widowed mother, Susanna. In the following years he stopped at Salisbury on his way to the west as Methodist groups formed and chapels were built. This preaching house was the first in central southern England.
Click here to go to Salisbury Methodist Church site for a fuller history.
This plaque to Revd John Wesley was unveiled by the mayor of Salisbury, Bobbie Chettleburgh, on Tuesday 15th December 2009.
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