St Pancras New Church

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For the saint after whom this church is named, see Saint Pancras. There is a list of other places named after him at St Pancras.

St Pancras New Church soon after completion.

St Pancras Parish Church sometimes referred to as St Pancras New Church to distinguish it from St Pancras Old Church is a 19th century church in London, England.

1 Location
2 History
3 Today
4 Gallery
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Location

The church is located on the south side of Euston Road. It was built as a new principal church for the parish of St Pancras, which once stretched almost from Oxford Street to Highgate. The Old Church became a chapel of ease. During the 19th century many further churches were built to serve the burgeoning population of the original parish, and by 1890 it had been divided into 33 ecclesiastical parishes.

[edit] History

The New Church was built primarily to serve the newly built up areas close to Euston Road, especially parts of the well to do district of Bloomsbury. The building of St Pancras church, which is still a thriving parish community, was agreed in 1816; the Duke of York laid the foundation stone in 1819 and the church was consecrated in 1822. At a cost of £89,296, it was the most expensive church to be built in London since the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. The monumental neo-classical propylon and portico on the east side in the Ionic order and the caryatids on north and south are based on the Ionic Temple of the Erechtheum on the Acropolis in Athens, completed in 406 BC and is the tomb of Erechteus, son of Hephaistos. Two thousand, two hundred and twenty two years after the original temple on the Acropolis was completed, St Pancras was begun after years of opposition over the high cost while the poor of the parish starved. Designs - by William Inwood and his son, Henry Inwood - were accepted after a competition involving thirty or so tenders.

It was built of brick and faced with white Portland stone. Terra-cotta was used for the grand ornamentation and the caryatids created by John Charles Felix Rossi (1762-1839). The caryatids guard the crypt, like the originals on the Acropolis in Athens whose hall is situated above the grave of Cecrops, the first king of Athens. St Pancras crypt, in which nearly five hundred burials had taken place, was closed in 1854. Although the caryatids are not as well proportioned as on the Acropolis, they are a splendid sight on the north and south side of the church and a reminder of classical Greece and antiquity in the heart of London.

The church's crypt has served as an air-raid shelter in two world wars – the Blitz in the 1940s and World War One; it was damaged in the Second World War and was suffering from dry rot. It was closed for two years for structural renovation from 1951. The North Chapel was added in 1970 and the interior was restored in 1981. St Pancras is still in use as a place of worship and also has program of concerts. The steps of the church were one of several sites used for floral tributes after the July 7 2005 London bombings.

[edit] Today

The church is one of the most important 19th century churches in England and is a Grade I listed building. However because it is situated on Euston Road; one of London’s busiest roads - it has become stained with pollution and recent cleaning attempts have been unable to remove the staining of much of the Portland stone. Father Paul Hawkins is the current Vicar of St Pancras Church. In recent years the Church was used as the location for the nearby University College London Christmas orchestra performances.

[edit] Gallery

The South Window of the Minster	Erectheion, Acropolis, Athens, showing portico and caryatids tomb	St Pancras new church, caryatid, north elevation	St Pancras New Church caryatids, south elevation
St Pancras New Church caryatids, south elevation	St Pancras New Church portico, April 2006	St Pancras Rear View, December 2006