St Pancras, Soper Lane

St Pancras, Soper Lane[1]

Current photo of site
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Anglican, originally Roman Catholic

St Pancras, Soper Lane was a parish church in the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.

History

St Pancras, Soper Lane was first built in the twelfth century. It was a small building, with a tower containing five bells. There was a chapel on the north side. A porch was added in 1617, and in the same year a monument commemorating Elizabeth I was presented to the church.[2] For many decades a comfortably wealthy foundation[3], by 1598 the parish had fallen on such hard times it had to sell a broken bell for scrap[4].

St Pancras, Soper Lane was one of 86 churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London.[5] In 1670 a Rebuilding Act was passed and a committee set up under the stewardship of Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt.[6] Fifty-one were chosen, but St Pancras, Soper Lane was not one of them [7]. The parish was instead united with that of St Mary-le-Bow.

References

  1. ^ St. Pancras Soper Lane 145/0: The parish church of St. Pancras Soper Lane', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane (1987), pp. 639-644. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=9775. Date accessed: 12 July 2008.
  2. ^ White, J.G. (1901). The Churches and Chapels of Old London. London. pp. 152–8. http://www.archive.org/details/churcheschapelso00whituoft. 
  3. ^ Church of England. Parish of St. Pancras Soper Lane.. Vestry and parish officers. Book of miscellanies Ms 05020 ca. 1515-1865. cited in “City of London Parish Registers Guide 4” Hallows,A.(Ed) - London, Guildhall Library Research, 1974 ISBN 0900422300
  4. ^ "A Survey of London, Vol I" Stow,J p446 : Originally 1598- this edn,London, A.Fullarton & Co,1890
  5. ^ The "Churches of the City of London" Reynolds,H: London, Bodley Head, 1922
  6. ^ "Wren" Whinney,M London Thames & Hudson, 1971 ISBN 0500201129
  7. ^ "The City of London Churches" Betjeman, J. Andover, Pitkin, 1967 (rpnt 1992) ISBN 0853725659

Further reading

An ACTUAL SURVEY of the Parish of ST. PANCRAS Soper Lane in the City of LONDON. Taken in the Year 1791, by Richd. Wooding Architect & Surveyor. Princes St. Spittal Fields.