I link Epworth with Children’s Home. In Columbia SC where I attended college, Epworth helps to build love and family for children 4-18 who may never have experienced a loving family.
Epworth also brings to mind the boyhood home of John Wesley. I have found it is far north of London and not an easy place to reach. We think a train to Nottingham and then a car ride may be the quickest way to get there.
At Epworth is the Old Rectory where Samuel and Susannah raised the three sons: Samuel, John and Charles and their seven daughters. The story from John Wesley’s life that we associate with the town is of the rectory burning down and five-year old John being rescued, a brand plucked from the burning. The fire took place in 1709.
The building was repaired and the family remained in the house until Samuel died in 1735. The building continued to serve the church rector until it was sold to the British Methodist Church in 1954. Several years afterward, it opened as a museum. A 2 million pound, four-phase plan is underway to restore the building to the way it looked when the Wesley’s called it home.
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