63-486: The Burdett-Coutts Memorial Sundial is a structure built in the churchyard of Old St Pancras , London, in 1877–79, at the behest of Baroness Burdett-Coutts . The former churchyard included the burial ground for St Giles-in-the-Fields , where many Catholics and French émigrés were buried. The graveyard closed to burials in 1850, but some graves were disturbed by a cutting of the Midland Railway in 1865 as part of
126-550: A Middlesex magistrate, former chairman of the Middlesex County Council and amateur historian and archaeologist. Sharpe had proposed, in a book first published in 1919, that the area of the county of Middlesex had in Roman times been subject to the form of land division known as centuriation , marked out by roads in a regular grid pattern covering the whole county. Sharpe noted, when plotting his gridlines, that
189-466: A "vulgar Tradition", and suggested that there was confusion with the ancient church with the same dedication in the grounds of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury , which was said to have been converted from a pagan temple by Augustine in 598. In 1870 local historian Samuel Palmer reported "This old and venerable church is said to be the first Christian place of worship in the county of Middlesex in
252-501: A Roman period establishment was argued by local historian Charles Lee in 1955, who wrote: There can be little doubt that a Roman encampment was situated opposite the site of St Pancras Church about this period, and that the church is on the site of a Roman Compitum, which served as a centre of public worship and public meeting... It seems probable that the Roman Compitum at St Pancras was adapted to Christian worship shortly after
315-522: A km away). The old building lost its status as the parish church when the New Church was consecrated in 1822, and became a chapel of ease . As it stood in the early 19th century, the church consisted of an unaisled nave , a chancel without a chancel arch and a western tower. The south porch had served as a vestry since the 18th century. By 1847 the Old Church was derelict, but in view of
378-400: A medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around half of the modern London Borough of Camden . The area of the parish and borough includes the sub-districts of Camden Town , Kentish Town , Gospel Oak , Somers Town , King's Cross , Chalk Farm , Dartmouth Park ,
441-447: A new vestry was added on the north side. The whole exterior of the church was refaced or reworked. The enlargement and the addition of galleries increased the capacity of the church from about 120 to 500. There were further restorations in 1888 by Arthur Blomfield with the reredos by C E Buckeridge ; in 1925 when the plaster ceiling and the side galleries were removed, and in 1948 following Second World War bomb damage . The building
504-486: A number of ancient parish churches appeared to be on or close to intersections, or at least on road alignments. He concluded that these churches must therefore stand on the sites of pagan compita , and represent the deliberate conversion of pagan temples to Christian use by early missionaries to the Middle Saxons in the 7th century. St Pancras Old Church is one of those marked on Sharpe's map. In 597, Pope Gregory
567-456: A solo show at the church. St Pancras Old Church is frequently mentioned in the Bryant and May detective series by author Christopher Fowler . 51°32′05.63″N 00°07′48.68″W / 51.5348972°N 0.1301889°W / 51.5348972; -0.1301889 St Pancras, London St Pancras ( / ˈ p æ ŋ k r ə s / ) is a district in central London . It was originally
630-505: A thousand strong), the 1/19th and 2/19th, with the 3/19th established as a training battalion. These three St Pancras battalions were joined by a fourth, a Pals battalion , which joined a different regiment, the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) , as the 16th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade, (St. Pancras), (The Prince Consort's Own). It also established a training battalion, the 17th (Reserve) Battalion, which spent most of
693-530: A tomb for his wife and himself in the churchyard, which is now Grade I listed . This mausoleum may have provided the inspiration for the design by Giles Gilbert Scott of the iconic red telephone boxes . Other people associated with the churchyard include the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the future Mary Shelley , who planned their 1814 elopement over meetings at the grave of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, mentioned above. Charles Dickens mentions it by name in his 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities , making it
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#1732797202273756-709: A trefoil Gothic arch around a relief sculpture (busts of two saints, St Giles and St Pancras , and of two allegorical figures depicting a youthful Morning with a cockerel and a more aged Night with a star and a crescent moon). The inscriptions on four marble panels include the Beatitudes from the Gospel of St Matthew , chapter 5, verses 3 to 9, and a religious poem. The tower stands on a square plinth of Portland stone, which rests on an octagonal base of three steps made from red Mansfield sandstone. The steps are decorated with mosaic panels, mostly stylised flowers. The structure
819-413: Is a polished marble stone at the entrance to the church, a collaboration between and a gift from the poet Jeremy Clarke and the sculptor Emily Young . It is inscribed: "And I am here / in a place / beyond desire or fear", an extract from the long poem "Praise" by Clarke. This impressive monument was erected in 1877 when the northern half of the churchyard was formalised as a public park, clearing most of
882-400: Is itself Grade II listed, and includes the tomb of Sir John Soane . St Pancras Old Church is also Grade II* listed. North West side: North East side: 51°32′07″N 0°07′51″W / 51.53540°N 0.13087°W / 51.53540; -0.13087 St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town , in
945-589: Is now Kentish Town (further north in St Pancras parish). The reasons for this were probably the vulnerability of the plain around the church to flooding (the River Fleet , which is now underground, runs through it) and the availability of better wells at Kentish Town, where there is less clay in the soil. Richard Granger is named as parson of the church of St Pancras, in 1446. After the Reformation
1008-638: Is now the terminus for the Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel . London Underground stations include King's Cross St Pancras . Immediately to the north of St Pancras churchyard is St Pancras Hospital , once the parish workhouse and later the London Hospital for Tropical Diseases . During the 18th and 19th centuries, St Pancras was famous for its cemeteries. In addition to the graveyard of Old St Pancras Church, it also contained
1071-532: Is reputed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England; however, as is so often with old church sites, it is hard to find documentary or archaeological evidence for its initial foundation. One tradition asserts that the church was established in AD 314 in the late Roman period. There is little to support that view, but it is notable that to the south of the church was a site called The Brill , believed at
1134-586: Is surrounded by iron railings which create a square enclosure, with a Portland stone animal statue at each of the four corners, two lions and two dogs. The dogs may be modelled on Greyfriars Bobby , or possibly an animal owned by Burdett-Coutts herself. The railings also bear a plaque to Johann Christian Bach , buried in a pauper's grave nearby. The monument became a Grade II listed building in February 1993, upgraded to Grade II* in September 2016. The garden
1197-532: The Bishop of Fulham (currently Jonathan Baker ). The church contains the grave of Samuel Cooper (or Cowper), the miniaturist, against its east wall. The churchyard, which is the largest green space in the locality, is managed by the London Borough of Camden . It has some fine mature trees, and was restored in the first few years of the 21st century. The graveyard served not only as a burial place for
1260-587: The Chevalier d'Éon , Sir John Soane , John Flaxman , Sir John Gurney , and James Leoni . The monument was designed by George Highton of Brixton. It was manufactured by H Daniel and Co, a firm of masons from Highgate, and includes relief carvings by Signor Facigna. It comprises a tall square tower in a decorated Gothic style, topped by a tall Portland limestone pinnacle bearing a sundial, supported by columns of pink Shap granite and grey Cornish granite to either side of four inscribed marble plaques, each topped by
1323-570: The Euston Road . The position of the railway termini on Euston Road, rather than in a more central position further south, is a result of the influential recommendations of a Royal Commission of 1846 which sought to protect the West End districts a short distance south of the road. National Rail stations include London King's Cross and St Pancras . St Pancras is one of the best-known railway stations in England. It has been extended and
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#17327972022731386-597: The London Borough of Camden . Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras . Dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras , the patron saint of children, it is reputed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England , but this is not supported by strong evidence. St Pancras Old Church, which was largely rebuilt in the Victorian era , should not be confused with St Pancras New Church (1819–1822) about 860 metres (940 yd) away on Euston Road . The building served
1449-455: The Midland Railway 's London terminus, St Pancras station . More burials were removed in 2002. The churchyard was reopened in June 1877 as St Pancras Gardens, following the movement to allow conversion of disused burial grounds into public gardens. Angela Burdett-Coutts , an important local benefactress, laid the foundation stone of the memorial sundial she had presented. A recent addition
1512-577: The Second World War . There was strong opposition to the 1957 Rent Act , which led to a series of decisions that caused serious financial difficulty. John Lawrence and several other councillors were expelled from the Labour Party in 1958 but continued to serve as Independent Socialists. The Conservative Party won the 1958 council election. In 1960, a widespread rent strike in the district led to rioting in September. From 1859 to 1955,
1575-526: The 250th anniversary of Wollstonecraft's birth were held by various groups, both inside the church and at the gravestone. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many foreign dignitaries and aristocrats were buried in the graveyard; they are commemorated on the Burdett-Coutts Memorial Sundial , an elaborate memorial commissioned by the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts . The architect John Soane designed
1638-658: The Great sent Augustine of Canterbury at the head of a group of 40 monks intending to promote the re-establishment of Christianity in England. Pope Gregory sent Augustine with relics of St Pancras, and the first church Augustine established, was dedicated to St Pancras and located in Canterbury , the capital of the Kingdom of Kent . Some traditions also ascribe the establishment of the St Pancras Old Church, or its dedication to St Pancras, with Augustine's mission and
1701-480: The Old Church, first King's Cross and later St Pancras . The new church is closer to Euston station . The parish of St Pancras was administered by a vestry until the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras was established in 1900. In 1965 the borough was combined with two others to form the London Borough of Camden . In the 1950s, St Pancras Council gained a reputation for left-wing radicalism and
1764-724: The St Pancras produced dedicated military units for the British Army, initially infantry battalions and later anti-aircraft and searchlight regiments. A high proportion of the recruits were drawn from working-class districts of St Pancras, such as Camden Town . At the start of World War I, the St Pancras Battalion was part of the London Regiment and known as 19th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (St Pancras). The increase in wartime recruitment led to it being split into two battalions (each around
1827-420: The area frequently in his plays. It was a rural area with a dispersed population until the growth of London in the late eighteenth century. In the 1790s Earl Camden began to develop some fields to the north and west of the old church as Camden Town . About the same time, a residential district was built to the south and east of the church, usually known as Somers Town . In 1822 the new church of St Pancras
1890-789: The boundaries of the ancient parish, all of which benefit from the distributions from the St Pancras Lands Trust and most of which are in South Camden Deanery in the Edmonton Area of the Diocese of London . In the Middle Ages it had "disreputable associations", and by the 17th century had become the "' Gretna Green ' of the London area". On that account Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson alludes to
1953-480: The boundary with Clerkenwell , while a tributary of it – later known as Lamb’s Conduit - formed the southern boundary with Holborn . The course of this watercourse is now marked, in part, by Roger Street (formerly known as Henry Street). The tree which gave the Gospel Oak district its name, formed part of the boundary with neighbouring Hampstead . The boundaries of St Pancras include take in around half of
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2016-574: The building and references in the Domesday Book suggest the site was in use during the Anglo-Saxon period. As early as 1593 the cartographer John Norden had commented in his Speculum Britanniae that the dilapidated St Pancras church looked older than St Paul's Cathedral . By the 18th century there seems to have been a local belief that St Pancras was of very great age, perhaps the oldest church in England. Information panels outside
2079-656: The cemeteries of the neighbouring ecclesiastical parishes of St James's Church, Piccadilly , St Giles in the Fields , St Andrew, Holborn , St. George's Church, Bloomsbury , and St George the Martyr, Holborn . These were all closed under the Extramural Interment Act in 1854; the parish was required to purchase land some distance away, beyond its borders, and chose East Finchley for its new St Pancras Cemetery . The disused graveyard at St Pancras Old Church
2142-468: The church today state that it "stands on one of Europe’s most ancient sites of Christian worship, possibly dating back to the early 4th century" and has been a "site of prayer and meditation since 314 AD". A vicar of the church claimed (at some point prior to 1870) to have seen a document in the Vatican Library that placed the foundation to the 4th century, during the Roman period. The case for
2205-577: The composers Carl Friedrich Abel and Johann Christian Bach , the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach , and the sculptor John Flaxman . William Franklin , the illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin and last colonial Governor of New Jersey , was interred here in 1814. There is a spousal memorial tomb for philosophers and writers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin , though their remains are now in Bournemouth . In 2009, commemorations of
2268-415: The core area of Fitzrovia and a part of Highgate . St Pancras Old Church lies on Pancras Road, Somers Town , behind St Pancras railway station . Until the 19th century it stood on a knoll on the eastern bank of the now buried River Fleet . The church, dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras , gave its name to the St Pancras district, which originated as the parish served by the church. The church
2331-430: The eighth or ninth century." An earlier vicar is said to have claimed to have seen in the Vatican Library a manuscript mentioning that St Pancras church was built in the 9th century (in addition to the other clergyman who claimed to have found reference to a Roman era establishment). When the church was rebuilt in 1847, builders found some evidence of Anglo-Saxon period church activity and some re-used Roman tiles in
2394-505: The group's "Mad Day Out". The video for Lene Lovich 's 1979 hit "Bird Song" was filmed in the church and churchyard. In 2013, British R&B singer Sam Smith performed two concerts at the church. The live version of "I've Told You Now" was included on deluxe editions of their album In the Lonely Hour . On 24 September 2014, singer Claudia Brücken , best known for her work with German electronic group Propaganda , performed
2457-408: The growth of population in the southern part of the parish, it was decided to restore it. ( Victorian restoration of churches is not what we understand today by the phrase building restoration .) The architect of the alterations was Alexander Dick Gough . The old tower was removed, allowing the nave to be extended westwards, and a new tower was built on the south side. The south porch was removed, and
2520-499: The isolation and decay of the church made it a tempting resort for Catholics : indeed, it was said that the last bell which tolled for the Mass in England was at St Pancras. St Pancras (and to a lesser degree Paddington Church ) were the only places in London where Roman Catholics were permitted to be buried. Among the several Catholics buried in the churchyard was Johann Christian Bach , youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach . His name
2583-424: The large ancient parish of St Pancras , which stretched from a point a short distance north of Oxford Street , northward to Highgate . By some traditions, the church has been a site of Christian worship since AD 314, but as with most parish churches, especially the older ones, there is little documentary or archaeological evidence to allow the first use of the site to be dated. Remnants of medieval features in
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2646-478: The location of body snatching to provide corpses for dissection at medical schools, a common practice at the time. Burials in the churchyard eventually ceased under the Extramural Interment Act in 1854, and St Pancras and Islington Cemetery was opened in East Finchley. In the mid-1860s, the young Thomas Hardy was in charge of the excavation of part of the graveyard in the course of the construction of
2709-428: The lumps and bumps in the fields to the west of the church that Stukeley interpreted as a Roman camp were actually traces of the original medieval village of St Pancras, before the centre of the settlement moved north to the area now known as Kentish Town. Lee's use of the word compitum , properly a Roman temple or shrine situated at a crossroads, indicates his indebtedness to the work of Montagu Sharpe (1856–1942),
2772-400: The main parish church, which was replaced by a new building in 1822, St Pancras New Church on the south side of Euston Road . The then-dilapidated Old Church continued in use but was reduced to the status of a chapel of ease . Most of the fabric of the Old Church building dates from a subsequent Victorian restoration. The ancient parish of St Pancras (also known as Pancrace or Pancridge )
2835-414: The materials used in the wall, leaving no doubt but that the original church had been a Norman structure which had been at some time completely rebuilt and part used as building material in the reconstruction. In the early Middle Ages there was a centre of population in the vicinity of what is now known as the old church. However, in the 14th century the focus of population is thought to have shifted to what
2898-474: The medieval church revealed Roman tiles in the fabric of its tower and an inscribed altar stone dated to AD 625 (other sources estimate an AD 600 date ), which might suggest an early 7th-century foundation. The original cemetery around the church appears to have been sub-circular like many late Saxon cemeteries These archaeological findings seem to go some way to countering the 18th century London historian William Maitland , who dismissed links to Augustine's era as
2961-509: The modern London Borough of Camden , including Camden Town , Kentish Town , Somers Town , Gospel Oak , King's Cross , Chalk Farm , Dartmouth Park , the core area of Fitzrovia and a part of Highgate . There are no motorways in St Pancras, and few stretches of dual carriageway road, but the district has great strategic transport significance to London, due to the presence of three of the capital's most important rail termini; Euston , St Pancras and King's Cross , which are lined up along
3024-556: The opening of the nearby St Pancras International station with a bilingual service and a twinning with the Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris , near the Gare du Nord , Paris . In 2013 an official appeals project was launched to raise the funds necessary to preserve the church and grounds. As a traditional Anglo-Catholic church that rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishops, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from
3087-524: The parishioners but also for Roman Catholics from all around London. They included many French refugees (émigrés), especially priests, who had fled the Revolution , one of them the spy Chevalier d'Éon . Notable people buried in the churchyard include the notorious colonial administrator Joseph Wall who was executed for cruelty in 1802. The famous vampire writer ( "The Vampyre" published in 1819) and physician John William Polidori (buried in 1821),
3150-489: The relics he brought. J. Carter Rendell (vicar 1912–26) argued that a medieval altar slab marked with five consecration crosses , found during the 19th-century building works, could be dated to the 6th century. Phil Emery and Pat Miller discuss the archaeological history of the site in 'Archaeological findings at the site of the St Pancras Burial Ground and its vicinity': The 1847 reconstruction of
3213-485: The restoration of religious freedom in 313 (taking its name from the recently-martyred Pancras). Lee's "Roman encampment" was "Caesar’s Camp at Pancras called the Brill", identified by the antiquary William Stukeley in the 1750s. However, some at least of Stukeley's contemporaries could see no trace of this camp, and considered that Stukeley had let his imagination run away with him. Gillian Tindall has suggested that
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#17327972022733276-478: The smaller gravestones. It lists stones lost to this and earlier clearances for the railways. See Lysons 2016 On 6 July 1811, the composer and pianist Muzio Clementi married Emma Gisborne. On 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in the churchyard grounds, in a famous series of pictures designed to promote the single " Hey Jude " and the White Album . A memorial bench bears a plaque commemorating
3339-406: The time to have been a Roman Camp. The Brill was destroyed during the urbanisation of the area, without any archaeological excavation to assess its age and purpose. The church is certainly very old; it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and there is evidence to suggest it predated Domesday by several centuries. A chapel of ease was subsequently established at Kentish Town to supplement
3402-425: The walls. They were able to identify that the church building they were replacing was mainly late Tudor with elements of earlier structures incorporated. According to a Victorian architect, Robert Lewis Roumieu , involved in the works: The old church was principally late Tudor. When it was pulled down to be rebuilt, several small Norman columns, pilaster piers and other remains of a Norman edifice were found among
3465-462: The war on Wimbledon Common . During World War I these three front line battalions were deployed: St Pancras was originally an Ancient Parish that ran from a point a little north of Oxford Street , extending north to include part of Highgate , and from today’s Regent's Park in the west to the road now called York Way in the east. These boundaries encompass much of the current London Borough of Camden . The former River Fleet formed part of
3528-413: The works to construct its terminus at St Pancras railway station . The churchyard was acquired by the parish authorities in 1875 and reopened as a public park in June 1877. The high Victorian Gothic memorial was built from 1877 and unveiled in 1879. The obelisk acts as a memorial to people buried near the church whose graves were disturbed; the names of over 70 of them are listed on the memorial, including
3591-512: Was dedicated as the parish church . The site was chosen on what was then called the New Road (now Euston Road ) which had been built as London's first bypass, the M25 of its day. The two sites are about a kilometre apart. The new church is Grade I listed for its Greek Revival style ; the old church was rebuilt in 1847. In the mid-19th century two major railway stations were built to the south of
3654-675: Was designated a grade II* listed building on 10 June 1954, That year also saw the former parish of Christ Church Somers Town (destroyed in the 1940 Blitz) merged into that of St Pancras Old Church, followed by that of St Matthew's Oakley Square in 1956. The church has a chaplaincy to the nearby St Pancras Hospital and from 2003 to 2023 it formed part of the Old St Pancras Parish (which also included St Michael's Church, Camden Town , St Mary's Church, Somers Town and St Paul's Church, Camden Square - all four are now independent parishes again). On 11 December 2007 it marked
3717-459: Was established in the medieval period to serve five manors: two manors named St Pancras (one prebendial, one lay), Cantlowes (Kentish Town) , Tottenham Court and Rugmere (Chalk Farm) . By the end of the nineteenth century, the ancient parish had been divided into 37 ecclesiastical parishes, including one for the old church, to better serve a rapidly growing population. There are currently 17 Church of England parishes completely contained within
3780-585: Was given to the removal of remains than in the 19th century. Old St Pancras Church and its graveyard have links to Charles Dickens , Thomas Hardy , and the Wollstonecraft circle. Open spaces in the district include: The name “St Pancras” survives in the name of the local parliamentary constituency , Holborn and St. Pancras . One of the political wards in Camden is called St Pancras and Somers Town; however, ward boundaries are chosen to divide
3843-555: Was left alone for over thirty years until the building of the Midland Railway required the removal of many of the graves. Thomas Hardy , then a junior architect and later a novelist and poet, was involved in this work. He placed a number of gravestones around a tree, now known as "the Hardy Tree". The cemetery was disturbed again in 2002–03 by the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link but much more care
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#17327972022733906-489: Was misspelled in the burial register as John Cristian Back. The church fell into disrepair and towards the end of the 18th century services were only held there on one Sunday each month; on other weeks, the same congregation would use a chapel in Kentish Town. 18th and early 19th century urban expansion led to the construction of the capacious St Pancras New Church on what was then the "New Road" ( Euston Road , about
3969-423: Was referred to as "the most freakish borough in London.” The council refused to take part in civil defence preparations for war which local councils were obliged to provide. The Home Office monitored Mayor John Lawrence , and as of 2016, still refuses Freedom of Information requests related to him on the grounds of protecting national security. Housing was in excess demand after the damage and disruption of
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