Introduction

In this free course, Methodism in Wales, 1730–1850, you will learn about a neglected strand of Welsh history and identity. By the mid-nineteenth century Calvinistic Methodism had become the most popular religious denomination in Wales and a mainstay of Welsh national identity. Having originally grown up as a movement inside the Church of England, in 1811 the Welsh Methodists formally seceded to form their own church. By 1851 over a quarter of Welsh adults regularly attended Methodist services, making it the largest religious denomination in Wales. The origins of this new religious movement, how it rose to prominence, and its significance for Welsh identity more broadly, will be explored by considering the following questions:

• Where did this new form of religion come from?
• Why did it become so popular?
• How did it become so intertwined with ideas about Welshness?

What’s more, the course will introduce you to some fantastic free online resources such as:

• Coflein: the online catalog of archaeology, buildings, industrial and maritime heritage in Wales
• Dictionary of Welsh biography
• Internet Archive
• People’s Collection Wales
• A Vision of Britain through time
• Welsh Newspapers Online

These collections are enormously valuable for learning not just about Methodism, but about the history of Wales more broadly.

Learning Outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the broad history of Nonconformity generally and Methodism specifically in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Wales
• See connections and conflicts between religious affiliation and national identity in this period of Welsh history
• Identify some of the types of evidence, including statistics, architecture, and newspapers that tell us about that history
• Make use of some of the resources for studying Welsh history that is freely available online.