Wesleyan Methodist Church

Wesleyan Methodist Church. Built in 1811 by Thomas Harrison and William Cole II of Chester. It was significantly extended externally in 1906 by PH and WT Lockwood. The earlier part is constructed of brown brick, while the 1906 addition is of Ruabon red brick, both with grey slate roofs.

The 1906 façade facing St John Street is symmetrical, though its style is not easily defined, featuring projecting two-storey corner pavilions, originally containing entrances but now with display windows, and a gabled main front with a large, nine-light round-arched window featuring quasi-panel tracery. A plaque above reads "erected 1811: restored 1906." The gable is stepped and rounded with a cartouche and finial. The original chapel’s right side displays three tall leaded windows with cambered gauged brick heads for the aisle, and three semicircular windows with radial-bar glazing for the gallery. The left side is similar, but the lower part of the front bay is concealed by the 1906 extension. The rear of the church, now the liturgical east end, was reordered in 1906. A rainwater pipe and head at the corner of the nave is dated 1811, supported by a butterfly bracket.

The interior features Ionic arcades and side galleries in the original sections, and a round classical arch to the chancel.

Originally, the church was oriented differently, entered from the west facing the City Walls, with an apsidal east end looking onto St John Street. Thomas Harrison provided only a plan, for a fee of £20, which proved insufficient for builders’ estimates. William Cole II completed the working drawings and prepared specifications, for a fee of £85. Cole also acted as a contractor for masonry, carpentry, and joinery, representing approximately half the building's cost. The 1906 alterations included reorienting the church, demolishing the apse, constructing a new entrance front onto St John Street, and adding or reordering the chancel from the original porch to replace the previous entrance. A later 20th-century wing to the left of the St John Street front is not part of this listing.