The foundation stone
On 10th October 1912 the stonelaying took place. The principal stone was laid by the Rt Hon Thomas Ferens, Liberal MP for East Hull and a generous benefactor to many causes, and a major donor to this scheme. Another stone was laid by J. C. Isard, senior master and bursar of The Leys School, a third by Miss E. Wyburn on behalf of her sister Rhoda. Finally Mrs. Ann Lavender, who had been present as a child at the stonelaying of the Hobson Street chapel re-laid the same stone in the new building (and with the same trowel), thereby marking the continuity between the two buildings. It was decided not to inscribe the stones, whether for reasons of cost or for lack of time is not clear. The Cambridge Daily News reported that under the main stone a bottle was placed containing details of the scheme and the names of those involved.
So the building got under way, 9 years after the site had been bought. Much of it is recorded in the trustees` minutes of the time, although there were curious gaps as they failed to explain why certain things were changed. There was plenty of evidence of cost cutting (where the effect would not show), some of which only came to light at the refurbishment of the building in 1988. How much the trustees were aware of these details and how much the builder was trying to get away with is not clear. He appeared to be short of money and twice the trustees had to bail him out with emergency funds to ensure the job was completed on time, or indeed at all!
Wesley Church opens
The schoolrooms were opened on Thursday 8th May 1913, and a caretaker was installed in the flat. The main church was opened on 30th October 1913. As there was no pipe organ at the time an American organ was secured for the opening services at which the University and King`s College organist played. Pew rents were fixed, the most expensive, at four shillings, at the back (!), with free pews for students and others at the front and in the transepts. A three day bazaar was arranged for the weekend to complete the fund raising.
On the day of the opening a thousand people were reported to be present, and seven hundred sat down (or stood up) for tea. There were many speeches. The President of Conference, the Vice Chancellor and the Mayor all took part, along with other Wesleyan ministers and lay figures, and local ecumenical representatives. There was a united choir of Wesley and Hills Road members. Much was made in the publicity beforehand, and on the day, of the provision of the library (now incorporated within the refectory, but originally a separate room) as a meeting place for students. To mark the importance of the occasion the Cambridge Independent Press published an exhaustive account of the proceedings, as also did the Methodist Recorder in an article entitled “The End of the Journey”.
In 1914 the Conference committee was able to report to the Conference that the scheme was complete. With some reliable promises still outstanding only £116. 18s. 7d remained to be raised. All concerned could breathe a big sigh of relief. The heroes of the whole project were undoubtedly JC Isard, its treasurer, who saw it through from start to finish and was cheered at the opening as “the father of the whole scheme”, and two superintendent ministers, William Bradfield at the beginning, a man noted for his “cheery optimism that withstood all opposition”, and James Lewis at the end, who had to oversee all the problems of planning and building and must have committed endless hours to it, along with responsibility for the entire circuit. They were all thanked in the Conference of 1914.
The involvement of prominent Cambridge business figures, including the tailor and robemaker James Neal, and of the headmaster of The Leys, Dr. Barber, together with some notable Old Leysians and former masters are also of vital importance. We must not ignore or undervalue, the fund-raising efforts and generosity of local Methodists, including those at Hills Road who only cleared the debt on their own building in 1910.
Wesley Church, Cambridge nearly never happened and we think it is important to stress that what we have is substantially the gift of wider Methodism to Cambridge.
Church. 1913 by Gordon and Gunton of Cambridge in the Perpendicular Revival Style. Ashlar with slate roofs. Moulded coped gables with kneelers and Grass finials. Moulded plinth. Nave with aisles and porches, transepts and chancel. North front has central doorway within projecting gabled porch with diagonal buttresses. Eitherside are four light mullion windows. Above,3, three light triangular headed windows in deeply moulded surrounds with very unusual tracery. Above again a crenellated parapet. Flanking this front are the sides of the porches, each with a pair of two light mullion windows and a crenellated parapet. West front has a projecting gabled porch to the north with an elaborate arch and a four light mullioned window above, plus fine octagonal corner turrets. 4 shallow pointed arched windows to the west aisle, each with 5 pointed lights. The clerestory has 5 pairs of two light panel tracery windows. The transepts have a single large rose window each, with very elaborate and unusual tracery. The east side is identical to the west.
INTERIOR: Inside walls are faced with red brick, with ashlar dressings. 3 bay nave plus wider single bay transept arch. All moulded shallow pointed arches which die into the moulded piers and responds. Similar shallow pointed chancel arch. Elaborate Perpendicular Style wooden roof. Fine stone pulpit, lecturn and font. West gallery. Contemporary wooden pews,choir stalls, altar rail and altar. Attached to south is a single storey grey brick library with 3 canted bay windows.