Last updated | 5th January 2019 |
Name of library | New Room Library |
Address | 36 The Horsefair, Bristol, BS1 3JE |
Telephone | 0117 926 4740 |
Fax | |
collections@newroombristol.org.uk | |
Website | http://www.newroombristol.org.uk |
Alternative names | John Wesley’s Chapel Bristol |
Contact & Job Title | Kate Rogers, Manager |
Purpose & main user community of the library | We welcome anyone who wants to use our collections and ask for research advice. Our service is open to everyone, free of charge. In addition to those doing research, we welcome those who want to improve their understanding of the Christian faith, Methodism and various aspects of family or local history.
Primary Users: College and University researchers, family history enthusiasts, researchers interested in Methodist church history, visual culture, architecture and Bristol history. |
Terms of access | Drop-in during opening hours, or email the Collections Manager collections@newroombristol.org.uk to arrange an appointment to access archive material.
Facilities include worktop benches for researchers, toilets, free wifi and power for your laptop and devices. You can also enjoy a break from your research in our café or pay a visit to our museum. |
Opening hours | Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10.30am – 1pm. Closed Bank Holidays. See website for details of other public holidays. |
Disabled access | Library is on the first floor. A lift is available. |
Lending to other libraries & visitors | Reference Library only. To discuss the possibility of a short-term loan for exhibition please contact the Collection Manager collections@newroombristol.org.uk |
Number of volumes | 8,000 (books and pamphlets) |
Periodicals – Back Issues | 42 (complete and incomplete) |
Current Periodicals | 24 |
Other materials | Letters, Journals and Notebooks (1200 items). Portraits of Methodist ministers, mainly from Wesleyan journals (ca 1250 items). Postcards (mostly connected with the chapel). |
Volumes added per year | approx. 50 |
Coverage |
What’s here at the New Room Library?
extensive collection of local histories, many for particular chapels, especially for Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset. |
Special Collections | Watkinson collection of Methodist portraits, especially presidents of the Methodists Conference from John Wesley onwards. |
Manuscripts | |
Research resource | Bristol Methodism |
Catalogue Type | Card, working towards digitalisation (all accessioned items digitalised) |
URL of catalogue | https://oxfordbrookes.on.worldcat.org/discovery |
Other facilities | Photocopying at 10p per sheet. |
Full Time Staff | |
Part Time Staff | 1 |
Voluntary Staff | 12 |
Changes in next five years affecting the above | |
Anything else about the library | The first library at the New Room was created by John Wesley. This was lost when the building was sold in 1808 but a new library collection was started in the 1930s. The new Library to house this was officially opened in July 2017 and it also contains hundreds of volumes that were once within the libraries of the Methodist Music Society and Wesley College, Bristol. |