St Mary's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church on Eversholt Street in Somers Town, 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 ...

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 t ...

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, generally due to trav ...

for

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, London, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras, London, St ...

(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 11 March 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 novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

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

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

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 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, H ...

on 10 June 1954.

Modern day

From 2003 to 2023 it formed part of the Old St Pancras Team Ministry (which also included

St Michael's Church, Camden Town St Michael's Church is the principal Church of England Parish Church for Camden Town in north central London. The present building, built in the late 19th century, was designed by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner in a Gothic Revival sty ...

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 Freder ...

- all four are now independent parishes again).

Notable clergy

* Basil Jellicoe was Missioner at the Magdalen College Mission which operated in Somers Town in association with the parish. * 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 Somers Town {{London-Anglican-church-stub