As the successor to an institution established in London in 1834, it was the oldest provider of theological education for the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
After the Second World War the Didsbury buildings were sold, and £15,000 of the proceeds were used in 1946 to establish a new college with the same name on a 22-acre site at Henbury Hill, Bristol.
During the 1980s and 1990s, half the site was sold in stages to raise money for running costs and to fund the building in 1985 of Frances Greeves House, providing 23 flats for ministerial students with families.
[3] Although established to prepare people for ordained ministry in the Methodist Church, and this was still a significant part of its work with an emphasis particularly on pre-ordination students who were studying part-time, the College programme became much more widely based.
Wesley College provided a wide range of units in Christian theology, validated by the University of Bristol, most of which were open to lay people as well as those preparing for ordination.
[1] The college was an important international research facility with students from Australia, United States, South Korea, India and Africa.
A detailed review in 2009 found that the main building at Bristol needed up to £3.5m spent to bring it up to current standards, and the 1960s extension a further £2.3m.