St George's Cathedral is an Antiochian Orthodox church in Albany Street, St Pancras, in the

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

. Built to the designs of James Pennethorne, it was consecrated as an Anglican place of worship called Christ Church in 1837. It became an Orthodox cathedral in 1989. It is currently permanently closed as of 2023.

Description

The building, designed by

James Pennethorne Sir James Pennethorne (4 June 1801 – 1 September 1871) was a British architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London. Life Early years Pennethorne was born in Worcester, and travelled to London i ...

, stands on the corner of Redhill Street (formerly Edward Street) and Albany Street. It is not strictly orientated, its ceremonial east end, with the altar, facing slightly west of north. It is rectangular in plan, and built of brick with stucco and stone dressings, its four corners emphasised by wide tower-like features, projecting slightly beyond the main lines of the walls. The architecture is broadly classical in style. A deep stucco

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

runs around the whole building, with a simple brick parapet above it. The windows are round-headed. There is a tower above the entrance, topped by an octagonal spire. The steeple is unusually small in comparison with the main body of the church.

History

Anglican church

It was built as an Anglican church to serve the largely working class district of Cumberland Market. Consecrated on 13 July 1837, it established itself firmly within the

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

. Its first incumbent, William Dodsworth, previously of the Margaret Street Chapel, resigned on his conversion to Roman Catholicism. On the recommendation of the painter William Collins R.A, a copy of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's ''Transfiguration'' by Thomas Brigstocke was purchased as an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

. Alterations were made to the church between 1839 and 1843 by the architect R.C. Carpenter, and further changes, including the installation of an elaborate inlaid marble floor, were made in 1867 by William Butterfield. Christ Church was frequented by

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

who lived in Albany Street for a couple of years. Her brother

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

produced a stained-glass window depicting the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

for the church (a second version is elsewhere). A school grew up on Redhill Street near the church, called Christ Church Primary School. On 26 January 1950 the funeral service of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, was held at the church, as it was near to both

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

where he died and BBC

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

, where he worked. In 1974, the Albany Consort, an

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

group, was founded at the church. The church was designated a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on 10 June 1954.

Orthodox cathedral

In 1989 Christ Church ceased to be a place of

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

worship and became St George's Cathedral. With St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

it is one of two Antiochan churches in London. A new roof was built in 2000. In 2023, after more than 30 years, the church had to be permanently closed, with the seat of the Metropolitan Bishop moved to St George Orthodox Antiochan parish in Kensington.

References

Sources