St Mary's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church behind

Euston station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

on Eversholt Street in Somers Town,

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

History

It was designed by

Henry William Inwood Henry William Inwood (22 May, 1794 – 20 March, 1843) was an English architect, archaeologist, classical scholar and writer. He was the joint architect, with his father William Inwood of St Pancras New Church. Biography He was the son of th ...

as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

for

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in Somers Town, Central London. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, and is believed by many to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England. The church i ...

(which resumed being a parish in its own right in 1852) and built between 1824 and 1827 by I. T. Seabrook. A Parliamentary grant paid for the construction, though local taxation funded the purchases of the chapel's interior decoration and the site itself. It was consecrated on 11th Mary 1826 and soon afterwards it became famous for converting several local people from Roman Catholicism there. Early on, the chapel was known as "Mr. Judkin's Chapel" or "Seymour Street Chapel" and was attended during his schooldays by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, who was then living nearby with his family at 13 Cranleigh Street.

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

satirised the chapel's architecture, comparing it with Bishop Skirlaw's Chapel. The interior was the subject of two schemes, the 1874 one of J K Colling and the 1890 one of R C Reade—in the latter, traceried transoms were added to the windows and the west gallery taken out. In 1888 a chancel was added and the side galleries removed. It was designated a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 10 June 1954.

Modern day

Since 1 June 2003, it has formed part of the Old St Pancras Team Ministry (which also includes

St Michael's Church, Camden Town St Michael's Church is the principal Anglican church for Camden Town in north London. The present building, built in the late 19th century, was designed by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner in a Gothic Revival style. History Saint Micha ...

and

St Paul's Church, Camden Square St Paul's Church is a church dedicated to Paul the Apostle on Camden Square in Camden, north London. It is called St Paul's because the estate was owned originally by the canons of St Paul's Cathedral. It was built in 1849 to designs by Fred ...

Notable clergy

* A former parish priest at St. Mary's was

Basil Jellicoe John Basil Lee Jellicoe (5 February 1899 – 24 August 1935) was a priest in the Church of England best known for his work as a housing reformer. Jellicoe was born in Chailey, Sussex and educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College. A grad ...

. * Rob Wickham, curate from 2001 to 2003; later Bishop of Edmonton

References

External links

GENUKI
Churches completed in 1852 19th-century Church of England church buildings Somers Town Somers Town 1852 establishments in England {{London-church-stub