Wesley Manse

Wesley Manse is a manse built between 1888 and 1889 by Charles Bell. It is constructed of rock-faced ashlar to the front and sides, with yellow brick to the rear, and has ashlar dressings throughout. The roof is covered in Welsh slate. The building is L-shaped and forms the east side of a courtyard.

The north front features a projecting gabled wing to the left and a single-window range to the right, with a single-storey entrance porch set in the angle. A chamfered plinth, quoins and flush sill bands to both the ground and first floors are visible. The porch has a buttress with offsets, a step leading to a chamfered rounded-trefoil arch beneath a pointed hoodmould with foliate stops, a board door with ornate wrought ironwork, and a coped gable with shaped kneelers and trefoil finial. To the right of the porch is a sill string course, and a trefoiled window beneath a pointed hoodmould with carved stops. The gabled wing on the left has a projecting square bay window to the front with three lights and single lights to the sides, beneath a moulded cornice and hipped roof. There is a pair of narrow ashlar windows on the first floor beneath a segmental relieving arch, and a chamfered round-headed slit light to the attic.

The west front, which returns to the right, has a porch to the left and a pair of projecting, single-bay gabled ranges to the right. A central range breaks forward with a pair of narrow sashes beneath segmental relieving arches. The range on the right has a three-light window beneath a segmental relieving arch. Both ranges have two-light first-floor windows with flush lintel bands beneath segmental-pointed relieving arches, moulded string courses, and blind quatrefoil panels to the gables. A range set back to the left has a single-light window beside the porch. The east side has a small trefoiled light beneath a pointed hoodmould with carved stops. All windows, except the trefoil lights, contain sashes with four or six small panes over two or four larger panes, chamfered mullions and reveals, and quoined surrounds.

The building has coped gables with shaped kneelers and trefoil finials throughout, and a crested ridge tile. A stack to the rear is distinguished by an ashlar string course and shaft. The interior includes an original open-well staircase with turned balusters, moulded plaster cornices, and panelled doors in architraves. The manse is part of an unusually ornate group of Methodist buildings, erected in commemoration of John Wesley (1703-91) and the Wesley family of Epworth.