Room to Share our Stories

Library
You can use our Library to learn and research. Find out more about what we keep here and how to use it.
Library
Charles Wesley's House
We look after this special building too and you can join us for a guided tour
Find out more
Schools and Education Visits
We offer a number of exciting activities, resources and speakers to schools for children to learn more about the story of the New Room and the Wesleys.
Education Programme DetailsThe stories of people who have had a connection to the New Room.
Since September 2018 we have been collecting interviews from people who have enabled the New Room to be a place of hospitality, worship and welcome for all. This collection of oral histories includes accounts from people who have been involved in a variety of ways in the life of the New Room, going back to the 1950s. There are stories from volunteers, staff members, trustees, those who lived in the small flat above the chapel and those who got married or had special services at the New Room.


Do you have a story to share?
We are keen to interview anyone who...
- Got married at the New Room
- Had their children baptised here
- Worshipped in the chapel
- Lived in the flat above the chapel

'One Chapel, Many Voices' 2019 Exhibition
Between May - September 2019 the New Room displayed an exhibition of oral histories in the chapel. The exhibition was curated by University student Annie who spent her internship year at the New Room. The stories shared in the exhibition range from early childhood memories, family stories of living in the flat, memories of special events and services held at the New Room and various developments of the building including greening the Broadmead courtyard and the recent Horsefair Project that concluded in 2017.
All of the material is stored in the archive at the New Room, including the full-length interviews with each person as well as all of the transcripts of the audio recordings. If you would like to listen to any of the interviews in full or find out more about the oral history project, please make an appointment with Kate Rogers, Collections Manager, collections@newroombristol.org.uk or call 0117 9264740.