St Michael's Church is the principal

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

church for

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

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 Michael's began as a

church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

mission in 1877 under the direction of Father Edward Bainbridge Penfold. The congregation first met for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

at 5A Camden Road, a few doors away from the current church in a building which now houses a betting shop. A service was celebrated in the shop to begin the celebrations for the parish's 125th anniversary in 2002. The church was named in remembrance of the church of

St Michael Queenhithe St. Michael Queenhithe was a church in the City of London located in what is now Upper Thames Street. First recorded in the 12th century, the church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt by the office of Sir Christophe ...

, demolished in 1876 to fund the Camden mission. The present building was the first London church designed by Bodley and Garner and is built of brick with stone dressings in the decorated Gothic style. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

, begun in 1880, was consecrated by Bishop Walsham How on

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...

1881. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

and the north chapel were added between 1892 and 1894 and consecrated by William Temple

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, later

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

. A north west tower was planned but never built. The west front was restored in 2005 and a new roof was completed in August 2007. There is a small community garden next to the church with a War Memorial. The interior has a continuous, stenciled waggon ceiling covering both nave and chancel. The high altar in the chancel is surmounted by a stenciled

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for e ...

depicting the Risen Christ with seven lamps hanging above. There is also a threefold

Sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, th ...

in the south wall of the Sanctuary. The north chapel has a stone quadripartite ribbed vaulted ceiling and an Easter Sepulchre. The South Aisle contains the organ and a side chapel at the east end, a Calvary Scene and a shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. A set of fourteen

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

surround the nave in both the north and south aisles. At the west end there is a

Font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a " sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mo ...

with an intricate 19th century cover. Since 2015 the Church has hosted a contemporary art installation behind the font by the Royal Academy's Maciej Urbanek. The Work, titled 'HS', presents an abstract and subversive take on the classic image of the Holy Spirit descending as beams of light. It won the 2015 ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context. The church is Grade II* listed, for its interior. In 1954 the parish of St Michael's subsumed those of

All Saints, Camden Town All Saints Cathedral, Camden Street, London, originally All Saints Church, Camden Town, St Pancras, Middlesex, is a church in the Camden Town area of London, England. It was built for the Church of England, but it is now a Greek Orthodox churc ...

(which had become a Greek Orthodox church in 1948) and St. Thomas,

Agar Town Agar Town (also known as Ague Town, Hagar Town, Agar-Town and Agar-town) was a short-lived relatively tiny area of St Pancras in central London. It is now the site of St Pancras railway station. History The area was named after William Agar, a ...

, Wrotham Road (whose 1864 building was demolished due to war damage). In 2003 St Michael's became part of the St Pancras Team Ministry, with St Pancras Old Church, St Mary's Church, Somers Town, and St Paul's Church, Camden Square.

Parish work

It has an active ministry to the homeless and refugees in the area, and regularly speaks out on local social issues. It featured in the BBC series ''The Power and the Glory'' and hosted the launch of the new ' Faithful Cities' report (on which occasion John Sentamu, Archbishop of York and Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury also dedicated the new parish rooms at the side of the church). In March 2008 its priest, Father Nicholas Wheeler (licensed to the parish on 21 September 1996, and also Team Rector of the St Pancras Team Ministry) left to become Anglican Priest Missioner in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He was replaced as Team Rector and priest of St Michael's by Philip North, previously Shrine Administrator at

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 251 – Norf ...

who departed at the end of 2014 to become Bishop of Burnley. He was succeeded by Father Thomas Plant. The church is linked to St Michael's Church of England Primary School.Homepage
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Gallery

Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Stained glass window (geograph 3326205).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Pulpit (geograph 3326195).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Reredos (geograph 3326192).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Statue (geograph 3326190).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - East end (geograph 3326153).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Interior (geograph 3326218).jpg Image:St Michael, Camden Road - Interior (geograph 3326210).jpg

Notes

External links

Church history project websiteListing websiteWebsite of Glorious Undead Church who also meet at St Michaels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's Church, Camden Town Churches completed in 1894 19th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Grade II* listed churches in London

Diocese of London Gothic Revival church buildings in London Camden Town

George Frederick Bodley church buildings