Mission House

The first headquarters of the WMMS was at 77 Hatton Garden, London and included accommodation for a residential Secretary and for missionaries and candidates while in London. In 1841 the City of London Tavern in Bishopsgate was bought from the proceeds of the Centenary Fund and adapted to become the Mission House, becoming known as 'Centenary Hall'. Controversially, the cellars were let as a wine and spirits vault, a reminder that Wesleyanism had not yet espoused the temperance movement. The Mission House was rebuilt in 1902-3. Work on a new Mission House at 25 Marylebone Road began in 1939, but the premises were occupied by the BBC until 1946. Since 1996, with the move of connexional offices from Westminster Central Hall, the building has been known as Methodist Church House. The cost of upkeep at both the Bishopsgate and the Marylebone Road premises has come from lettings. By 2018 the need to replace the existing building had become inescapable.

Sources
  • Thomas Hayes, Sixty-three Years of Methodist Life (1902)
  • G.G. Findlay and W.W. Holdsworth, The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (1921-1924), vol. 1 pp.98-109
  • Methodist Recorder,13 April 2018

See also

Entry written by: JAV
Category: Place
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