John Wesley Monument
A689, Ireshopeburn, Bishop Auckland, DL13 1HD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1229605
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1987
- List Entry Name:
- John Wesley Monument
- Statutory Address:
- A689, Ireshopeburn, Bishop Auckland, DL13 1HD
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2003-07-20
- Reference:
- IOE01/10964/19
- Rights:
- © Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1229605
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1987
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 16-Mar-2021
- List Entry Name:
- John Wesley Monument
- Statutory Address 1:
- A689, Ireshopeburn, Bishop Auckland, DL13 1HD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- A689, Ireshopeburn, Bishop Auckland, DL13 1HD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- County Durham (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Stanhope
- National Grid Reference:
- NY8722838583
Summary
Monument to John Wesley, mid-C20 incorporating part of a former C18 sundial.
Reasons for Designation
The John Wesley Monument of mid-C20 date incorporating part of an C18 former sundial, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* a simply-designed monument, that utilises to good effect the base of an C18 sundial.
Historic interest:
* an important reminder of the influential preaching of the leading Methodist, John Wesley.
Group value:
* it benefits from a spatial group value with a handful of listed buildings at the east end of the village of Ireshopeburn, including High House Chapel, the centre of Methodism in the area.
History
John Wesley (1703-1791) was a founder of Methodism and a significant and influential religious figure in the latter part of the C18. He preached extensively throughout Britain for 50 years and a significant characteristic of his ministry was that he often preached in the open air. Between 1752 and 1790 he made regular twice-yearly trips to Weardale, and is said to have stopped off at up to five village greens a day to give outdoor sermons to the unconverted. In his first visit to Ireshopeburn he preached beneath a thorn bush. Weardale was well provisioned with methodist chapels and that at Ireshopeburn High House, which opened in 1760, became the centre of Methodism in the area. This monument was erected in the 1950s adjacent to High House to mark the fact that John Wesley preached in the vicinity. It is thought to be formed of the pedestal of an C18 sundial.
Details
Monument to John Wesley, mid-C20 incorporating part of a former C18 sundial.
MATERIAL: limestone; metal plaque
DESCRIPTION: the monument stands about 1.8m high and comprises an C18 pillar erected on a two-step base surmounted by a square abacus. It carries a carved triangular stone bearing a mid-C20 commemorative metal plaque which reads: THE REV. JOHN WESLEY / (1703-1791) RENOWNED EVANGELIST AND / FOUNDER OF METHODISM / PREACHED IN THIS VICINITY / ON SOME OF HIS FREQUENT VISITS TO WEARDALE.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 404405
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Usherwood, P, Beach, J, Morris, C, Public Sculpture of North-East England, (2000), 262-3
Websites
Keys To The Past, accessed 05-11-2020 from http://www.keystothepast.info/article/10339/Site-Details?PRN=D37027
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: John Wesley, accessed 05-11-2020 from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-29069
In Wesley's Weardale Footsteps by HK (1898), accessed 06-11-2020 from https://afinitas.org/Watson/WearMeth/MR1898a.html
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 08-Jun-2026 at 10:53:10.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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