Cowley Road Methodist Church

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Presented to Mr Walter Slaughter on the opening of the School Rooms, Wesley Hall, Oxford, Sept 22 1904.

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Cowley Road Methodist Church, Oxford was originally called Wesley Hall.

The church first opened its doors for worship in September 1904.  It was built on the corner of Jeune Street to accommodate a rapidly growing congregation which had met at a chapel in Tyndale Road for the previous 20 years. The design of the church exterior by the architect Stephen Salter, was influenced by the ‘arts and crafts’ movement of the time, on an unusual asymmetric plan.

The church owes its formation to the Tyndale Road  group of Christians, led and inspired by Walter Slaughter, a local grocer.  A memorial tablet to Mr Slaughter still hangs in the church today, as does a tablet in honour of twenty-one men associated with the church who died in World War I.

In recent decades, the church has welcomed those who have come to East Oxford from overseas.  In 1967, a weekly service in Punjabi was introduced, and continues to this day

In 1972, the exterior of the church was given Grade II listed status.

In 1984, the church was redeveloped and refurbished, with a multi-purpose worship area introduced upstairs and several meeting rooms downstairs.