Exeter and the Wesleyan Revival

Exeter and the Wesleyan Revival. . , 900 Years of Christian Worship , Mint Lane (named after the 17th-century mint) has been a focus for Christian worship since the Middle Ages. St Nicholas' Priory, founded in 1087, occupied much of the site until 1536. A Roman Catholic Church was built on the east side of Mint Lane in 1788, and an Arian (Unitarian) Meeting House followed in 1720, on the site of the present Methodist Church., 200 Years of Methodism , The buildings on this site have changed considerably over the past two centuries., In 1812 the Arian Meeting House was purchased and demolished. The new Methodist chapel opened on 13 March 1813., In 1846 and 1854, the Mint Lane Day School (boys and girls' departments respectively) was opened., Between 1865 and 1868 the chapel was enlarged and improved. In 1886 the Rowe Memorial Hall was added, and in 1893 the Oatsheaf Inn was purchased and demolished, to give access from Fore Street., By 1965 the church building, was declared unsafe, demolished, and rebuilt. The new church opened in 1970., In 2010 a major redevelopment project provided a new reception area, modem facilities, and full access for all. The church is now a busy community resource, as well as a spiritual home for a large multi-national congregation., The Wesleys in Exeter , John Wesley first came to Exeter in November 1739 and preached on Sunday morning at St Mary Arches Church. He was forbidden by the Rector to preach in the afternoon, lest he should 'lead people into enthusiasm or despair'., During 1743 both John and Charles Wesley visited Exeter and preached to large congregations at Rougemont Castle. There was much persecution of the Methodists, including a riot in 1745, during which they were pelted with potatoes, mud, and dung., In August 1762 John Wesley preached twice on Southernhay Green. At the 5pm service, 'a lewd, profane, drunken vagabond stirred up many of the base sort', who tried to overturn the table on which Wesley was standing, and which is now in the Mint Church., The Methodists then moved to a room over the Northgate, where John Wesley preached in 1762. In 1779 John Wesley opened the first permanent Methodist meeting house in Exeter, in Musgrave Alley.