Day 44 - Isle of Axholme - Epworth

Today we set off to visit Epworth, the birthplace of the Wesley brothers, set on the Isle of Axholme. In 1626 Charles I engaged Cornelius Vemuyden to drain 60,000 acres of wetland to produce some of the most fertile farmland in England.The village were holding a music festival, including events in the 'Old Rectory' garden.

Epworth Old Rectory
Famous for being the childhood home of John and Charles, the present building is an elegant Queen Anne building where the seeds of a religious movement were sown. It was in 1695 that the Wesley family moved to Epworth when Samuel Wesley was appointed Rector to St Andrews Church. The original Rectory was burned to the ground in 1709 by a mob of local people, whilst most of the family escaped, John aged 5 years was trapped in an upstairs room. Fortunately the crowd took pity on him and rescued him, causing his mother to describe him as a "brand plucked from the burning" - and believed he had been rescued for a special reason.

Samuel Wesley came from a "Dissenting " family, and decided to join the Church of England after weighing up the case for and against, he wrote poetry, and academic works and was recognised as a scholar of some stature, he was Rector at Epworth for 40 years. In the kitchen you  get a feel of Susanna home schooling the children round the kitchen table. The house boasts its own ghost, 'Old Jeffrey' who lived in the attic, despite Samuel's attempts to rid the house of it, he eventually disappeared of his own accord!

Ruth Lee

Outside in the garden we listened to Ruth Lee and Polly Brown in light drizzle. The gardens contain John Wesley Physic Garden - where plants used by John Wesley as herbal remedies for people who could not afford medicines or professional medical help.

Samuel Wesley Grave

St Andrews Church - dates back to the 12th century and built on a slight rise.
Samuel Wesley is buried in the grounds, and John when in 1742 he was prevented from preaching in the church, famously preached to the locals by standing on his fathers tomb. Most of the Wesley children were baptised in the church font.

Wesley Memorial Church

Built in 1889 the church and Manse are set in beautiful grounds, which include a sculpture of John standing on a globe world - representing that
phrase "All the world is my Parish". Inside is a wonderful stained glass window to John and Charles Wesley.

Kilham Memorial Church
Opposite Wesley Memorial Church is a building that commemorates Alexander Kilham, now used as a community centre. Kilham was also born in Epworth in 1762, son of a weaver. At the age of 20  he became part of the Wesley's band of travelling preachers. After Wesley's death Kilham led the first Methodist breakaway group in 1762 called the "Methodist New Connexion" who wanted
greater lay leadership involvement in the running of the church. The New Connexion eventually became part of the United Methodist Church, which in 1932 joined the Primatives and Wesleyan's to form today's Methodist Church. Although we had seen the outside of the church, this was the first opportunity to see inside.

A statue to John Wesley is located in Albion Hill, and is found on

the top right of my blog is  a photo I took when visiting last year. Just a short distance away  is the remains of the market cross where John Wesley delivered many sermons, the cross itself has gone, but as you can see the steps are a great place for children to play.

A short drive away is the village of Wroot. It was here that John was sent to be Curate to his father after completing his studies at Lincoln College, Oxford from 1727 - 1729 after it was added to Samuel's Living at Epworth in 1725.



St Pancras Church, Wroot.
The original Church and Rectory no-longer survives, but a memorial stone outside the Victorian church marks the fact. For a short period the family lived in the Wroot Rectory.
Often Samuel Wesley visited Wroot by boat along the "drains".
Samuel describes a journey from Wroot in a letter to John: " I am hipp'd by my voyage and journey to and from Epworth last Sunday; being lamed with having my breeches too full of water, partly with a downfall from thunder shower, and partly from the wash over the boat.... We can neither go afoot nor on horseback to Epworth, but only by boat as far as Scawsit Bridge, and then walk over the common."
We met two delightful ladies who were inside cleaning the church, telling us that they only have an average congregation of 6, but are supported by the local C of E School. They showed us a list of past Rectors including the original signature of Samuel Wesley. In the past  Wroot also had three Methodist Churches, reduced to one today.

Wroot Parish church

Later we travelled to Hull to visit the Maritime Museum to trace more of Anne's family History.