About the WHS Library
The Wesley Historical Society Library was established in 1959 to support the other charitable activities of the Society. It relocated to Oxford in the 1990s and can now be found as part of The Gibbs Library at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church (OX1 2DH) in the city centre. The WHS Library includes some 20,000 print items; archival materials; artefacts; and works of art. Highlights of the collection include:
- the world’s largest local studies collection relating to Methodism in Britain.
- Key reference works
- Series of important periodicals
- The last portrait of John Wesley from his lifetime
In recent years, efforts have been made to share material from the Library digitally, with a large selection now available through the Westminster College Oxford Research Network.
- Over 12,000 photographs of, primarily, Methodist Buildings in Britain
- Over 2,000 images of Methodist leaders between the 18th and 20th centuries
- The Methodist Recorder (1864-1919)
- The Wesleyan Atlas (1873)
The WHS Library can now be searched on its own online catalogue, which can be found here: https://wesleyhistsoc.cirqahosting.com/cirqa-web-app/.
The Gibbs Library
This research space opened in October 2025, and offers a comfortable environment for study, reflection, and discussion. It has a computer to enable access to our digital catalogue; illustrated art catalogue; and digitised materials. It houses some 3,000 items from the WHS collections, along with a selection of material from a number of other collections – including the archive of Westminster College, and the Methodist Church’s growing reference collection. The remainder of the WHS’s collections are stored off-site, with work ongoing to make these items available upon request.
The material which is permanently available in Oxford includes:
- Leading Methodist reference volumes, including Wesley’s works
- A selection of secondary material (inc. local histories, biographies, etc.)
- Methodist periodicals (1778-1970s)
- Methodist Conference agendas and minutes
- Methodist missionary notices and reports
- Items from other special collections.
Members, and external researchers, are welcome to visit the Library by appointment. To book a visit, or to volunteer to assist in the management of our collections, please contact:
Librarian, Dr Clive Norris,
Assistant Librarian, Dr Elizabeth Crabtree
librarian@wesleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk.