Charles followed his elder brother John to Christ Church, matriculating in 1726. Their father had previously been an undergraduate at Exeter College, and their grandfather at New Inn Hall. The latter no longer stands, but the Methodist church (Wesley Memorial Church) stands on New Inn Hall Street.

It was whilst Charles studied at Christ Church that he established the Holy Club, whose ideas evolved into Methodism.

The relationship between the Wesley brothers and Oxford starts fully in 1720, when John Wesley matriculated at Oxford as an Undergraduate of Christ Church. He was followed by his brother, Charles, in 1726.

Following his graduation, John Wesley was appointed as a Fellow of Lincoln College in 1726, a post he held until his marriage in 1751. He then continued to refer to himself as a 'Late Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford' until his death in 1791.

It was not just John Wesley who felt a fondness for his College. Today, Wesley is memorialised throughout the College, with a bust in the College Quad...

... a statue in the 'Wesley Room' (created by the American Methodist Church in the 1920s)...

... and in several artworks throughout the College collections.

In addition to the 'ancient' university, Oxford is now also home to Oxford Brookes University, and its three campuses, one of which (Harcourt Hill) was built by the Methodists as the second location for Westminster College (their teacher training institution) because of the connection between the Wesleys and Oxford.

This view is similar to the one found onsite today.

Neither Harcourt Hill or another of its campuses at Wheatley were part of Oxfordshire until the 1970s. The Wheatley campus was built as a second site for the Bletchley Park Training College which relocated here in the 1960s. It later merged with Oxford Polytechnic in 1975.

As is to be expected, much of Oxford has not changed from the city that John Wesley knew, especially within its historic centre.

On 24th August 1730, fellow 'Holy Club' member, William Morgan, introduced the Wesley brothers to the ‘social work’ for which the Methodist movement became famous, by persuading them to visit debtors and felons imprisoned in the Castle.

Whilst the city may mostly resemble the one John Wesley knew, the county has expanded and changed a good deal. Abingdon, for instance, is a town that Wesley would have known, but he would have known it as the county town of Berkshire.

In the September 1921 volume of their 'Proceedings', the Wesley Historical Society featured a piece on Methodism in Banbury. It records that Wesley passed through the town "in his early journeys from Oxford to Lincolnshire." Given that his family home could be found in Lincolnshire (Epworth Old Rectory is now a Methodist museum) this route could have become a familiar one to Wesley.

On his 1784 visit to the town, Wesley recorded "I desired the people would sit below in the morning, supposing not many would be present; but I was much mistaken; notwithstanding the darkness and rain, the house was filled both above and below: and never did I see a people who appeared more ready prepared for the Lord.'

John Wesley visited Buford on 03 October 1739. In his journal, he noted that

"About six in the evening I came to Burford and at seven preached to, it was judged, twelve or fifteen hundred people. Finding many approved of what they heard, that they might not rest in that approbation, I explained an hour or two after the holiness of a Christian; and, in the morning, I showed the way to this holiness."

Shotover formed part of the route taken by both Wesleys on their first journey into Oxford from London.

It was also whilst travelling on Shotover Hill that Charles Wesley was robbed in 1737.

For more information on John Wesley's journey to Oxford, see: https://sway.office.com/gZOnFOZgaZJedhFx?ref=Link

Similar to Abingdon, Uffington was historically not part of Oxfordshire. Today, however, its ancient white horse (which also famously featured in Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series) also lends its name to one of the area councils.

Wantage is a historic market town found within the 'Vale of the White Horse', having previously been part of Berkshire along with Abingdon. Originally a royal town in Wessex, Wantage is perhaps best known as...

... the birthplace of King Alfred 'the Great', or maybe as the home to the Williams Formula One racing team.

Unlike these previous towns, Witney has long been a part of Oxfordshire.

When he visited in 1783, Wesley recorded that there had been a storm in the town the previous Saturday, and that "many thought the Day of Judgement was come. Men, women, and children, flocked out of their houses, and kneeled down together in the streets. With the flames the grace of God came down also in a manner never know before". When he visited, "a multitude flocked together, on the ‘Son of Man coming in his Glory’. The word fell heavy upon them and many of their hearts were as melting wax".

In addition to this, Witney has also been home to a leading Methodist family: the Early's. Made wealthy through the woolen trade, James Vanner Early even funded the building of (what is now) the town council offices.

Despite its name, the 'Witney Blanket Story' notes that this mill was built in approximately 1660, with at least part of it always having been owned by the Early family.

In Wesley's day, Blenheim Palace was in the process of being built. This landscape depicts the site as it likely would have been around the last visit of John Wesley to Oxford in the 1780s.