Wesley Methodist Church

Wesley Methodist Church is a nonconformist chapel dating to 1846, with later enlargements and restoration work in 1887 and 1907. The building is constructed of slatestone rubble with stucco detailing, featuring a dry slate hipped roof with a gable pediment on the right wing. It is designed with a cruciform plan, incorporating a chancel at the north end. The architectural style is Italianate, evidenced by the two-storey elevations.

The west front is regularly composed of four bays, with the two right-hand bays slightly taller, topped by a pediment. This pediment features recessed round-headed lights with turned shafts beneath corbelled heads. A circular oculus is set within the pediment itself, enclosing a cinquefoil with a crucifix. The eaves have exposed purlins and a deep verge soffit. A doorway is located on the left-hand return, with a 6-panel door under a similar round head. Stucco pilasters frame the windows, with a moulded mid-floor frieze projecting beyond the pilasters, and a moulded eaves entablature similarly projecting and adorned with modillions. The ground floor features channelled rustications on the stucco, and cross windows with segmental heads and keyblocks. The first floor has similar rustication to the jambs and round-headed two-light windows, with a round central pane over transoms, and moulded architraves featuring console keyblocks.

The left-hand return incorporates a large porch with a central round-arched doorway facing the manse garden. A wider principal round-headed doorway is set on the right-hand return, facing the road. This arch is supported by slender columns with carved capitals, and features a traceried tympanum above a pair of two-panel doors, set under a segmental arch. An impost string with a Doric frieze returns to the adjacent doorway, also with a panelled door, both doorways featuring moulded arches and console keys that extend into the entablature, topped by consoles and a moulded cornice and parapet.

The interior, largely renovated in 1907, features a finely moulded and carved panelled plaster ceiling. A gallery surrounds three sides, supported by slender Doric columns. The gallery front is adorned with a Doric frieze. The pews are crafted from pitch pine and date to 1907. An elaborate rostrum, designed in 1889 by John Ugalde and donated by Dr Andrew Hingston, is also present. The church makes a significant contribution to the surrounding streetscape.