Wesley’s Chapel
49 City Road, Shoreditch, London EC1Y 1AU
This collection of Georgian buildings, set around a wide square, provides a breath of fresh air and tranquillity in a particularly busy part of the City. It is the mother church of Methodism, and the complex includes not only the rather grand chapel, but the tomb of John Wesley himself (the founder of Methodism), along with his house, a museum of Wesleyism, and the little Foundry Chapel, which was the congregation’s original place of worship. The chapel itself, built in 1778, is surprisingly fancy, with pink columns and bright stained glass. Wesley’s more soberly decorated house includes an early version of an electric healing machine, which he used to treat ailments such as gout, toothaches and back pain.