PLAQUES

JOHN WESLEY

GLOUCESTER STREET, WEYMOUTH

JOHN Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had many strong links with Dorset.

He held the faith's first meeting in Dorset in Epworth Villa, 14 Gloucester Street, Weymouth, the building the plaque is on. The plaque was put in place by the Wesley Historical Society in 2013.

John Wesley's grandfather, also called John, was in Weymouth in the early 1660s but the corporation refused to let the minister settle there. A landlady who offered him lodgings was fined £20 and he was fined five shillings a week forcing him to travel from town to town seeking shelter.

In May 1663 he was offered a cottage rent free at Preston, one of a pair since converted into a single house known as Manor Cottage.

John Wesley is thought to have died at Preston in 1670 but his son Samuel spent his boyhood at Manor Cottage and attended Dorchester Grammar School.