So, this text from the Victoria History series, as it relates to Methodism in Oxford, gives the background to the church that I attended in New Inn Hall Street, (between George Street and Queen Street at the top of St Ebbes), with Dad, FGBA, in the 1940s and 1950s, as follows:
“After Wesley’s death, Methodism in Oxford declined and in 1799, when there were fewer than 20 members, and was said to be in danger of 'entirely failing’. In 1815 however, largely on the initiative of John Pike, a prominent member for many years, the society built a new and larger chapel."
"The new chapel, further north, and on the opposite side of the street to the old chapel, was opened in 1818; it was a classical building designed by the Wesleyan architect William Jenkins. Although probably too large for the membership when first built, it appears to have stimulated a sharp increase in membership to circa 190 by 1825, but the society was burdened for decades by the heavy debt incurred for its building.”
“The splitting off of the Primitive Methodists in the 1830s and of the Wesleyan Reformers in the 1840s reduced membership; in 1845 there were 249 members and by 1854 only 180, although in in 1851 congregations were said to average 380 in the morning, 120 in the afternoon, and 600 in the evening. Falling membership aggravated the chapel’s financial crisis; it was not until 1867 that the chapel debt was finally paid off, after much generosity from members and sympathisers, notably Henry Goring, an eccentric Anglican who was one of the chapel trustees.”
I am as yet (25.2.16 in NZ) not yet clear where the chapel (that the above text refers to) was located. No doubt that can be determined by reading back in the Victoria History volume. The text continues in a passage discussing the building of ‘Wesley Memorial Church’, which Dad (FGBA) and I attended in the 1940s and 1950s.