1913 Improvements

Improvements and modernisation at Wesley continued. The Preachers Rostrum was enlarged to take a new Two Manual Organ at the front of the Church. Because two of the ‘Stops’ (ranks of Organ Pipes) from the old Organ were found to be of high quality, they were transferred. The place in the gallery, behind the clock, where the old instrument stood was always traceable in later years as old doors were used to back the pews where it stood!

At the same time the Church was re-seated with the pews that remained in place for the rest of its time as a place of worship. ‘Pew Rents’ were abolished and the outside walls were rendered.

The Bristol Mercury, February 1886

All this took place in the early 1900s and was completed before 1913. At this time the front gates were set in stone pillars carrying a cast iron arch to hold a lantern frame. The front walls were surmounted by spiked iron railings and these also surrounded the two small graveyards. They may have been there since the Church was built but were removed by the Government during the 1939-45 War. (A small section survived as it was propping up an old Gravestone). Apart from this, the external Church building still looks very much as it did in 1913.