Tag: Ewan Christian

St Clement King Square, EC1: saved by accident

The fine-looking early c19 Anglican church of St Clement King Square is little known, though quite unjustly so. Admittedly it is barely visible to most passers by, being tucked  away along a cobbled cul-de-sac beside a small, quiet urban park (King Square) and overwhelmed by later c20 housing developments.

Church of St Clement King Sqaure, London EC1 (2017) [Source geograph.org.uk | ©Julian Osley]
The location of St Clement’s hurch, King Square, London EC1 (UK)
St Barnabas (St Clement) King Square (1828) by T. H. Shepherd (d.1884) [Source: ‘Metropolitan Improvements’ by James Elmes.(British Library HMNTS 010349.s.3)]
Aerial view of King Sqaure, London EC1 (UK)

The church building – originally dedicated to St Barnabas – was designed by Thomas Hardwick (1752–1829) and competed in 1826 at a cost of around £17,000. Hardwick’s design was part of a middle-class garden-square housing development built on land owned by St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and was intended as a chapel-of-ease to St Luke’s Old Street.

This article’s rather oblique title derives from the fact that tn the late 1930’s the church was designated for closure in favour of other nearby church buildings, specifically:

      • St Clement, Lever Street (1863–5; arch. George Gilbert Scott, 1811–78)
      • St Matthew, City Road (1847–8; arch. George Gilbert Scott. Additions 1866: arch. G. E. Street, 1824–81)
      • St Paul, Pear Tree [Peartree] Street (1868; arch, Ewan Christian, (1814–95).
The former church of St Clement (1868), Lever Street, London EC1 (UK). [Source, London Metropolitan Achive. SC_PZ_IS_01_467]
Former church of St Matthew (1848/60) City Road, London EC1 (UK) [Source: British Museum 1932,1115.6]
A postcard of the former St Paul’s Church, Pear Tree Street, London EC1 UK.

However, as a result of aerial bombing during the Second World War those churches were damaged beyond repair and were closed. St Barnabas, itself bombed – but not irreparably – was retained and renovated by the Norman Haines Design Partnership to create a fine neo-classical interior. It was re-dedicated on 12 June 1954 as the church for a newly created parish of St Clement with St Barnabas and St Matthew Finsbury. The people here are very warm and welcoming, and the building is also well used for concerts of music, not least by musicians from the nearby City University.

The neve (2018)looking west, St Clement’s Church, King Sqaure, London EC1 (UK) [Source: ©John Salmon [https://twitter.com/churchcrawler/status/724888263614468097?s=20]
The chancel (2018), St Clement’s Church, King Sqaure, London EC1 (UK) [Source: ©John Salmon (https://twitter.com/churchcrawler/status/724888263614468097?s=20%5D

The pipe organ

The first organ in this building was by the firm of William Hill and Sons, but was lost when the church suffered war damage. The rather nice two-manual organ we find today is derived from the mechanical-action organ by Henry Willis that was originally installed (1876) in St Thomas, Agar Town (1860-61; arch: S. S. Teulon, 1812–73) . That church was closed and demolished in the early 1950s at which point the Willis instrument there was salvaged by the firm of Mander and Sons for re-use, some of it here. The case, console and electro-action are new.

Console of the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)
St Thomas, NW1, organ in south chancel aisle. [Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
The former church of St Thomas, Agar Town, London NW. [Source: commercial postcard]
Builder’s plate on the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)
Organ case of the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)

References

From Friday Street to Finsbury Park

St Thomas the Apostle, Finsbury Park, London N4

Tucked away in an undistinguished later-nineteenth-century suburb of north London is the Anglican parish church of St Thomas the Apostle, Finsbury Park. The areas will be known to many as the home of the Arsenal Football Club whose former Highbury Stadium (1913-2006) was close by the church. The football club’s new Emirates Stadium (2006) is located a little further away to the south west. The former stadium site is now a housing estate named Highbury Square.

Aerial view (1957) of the home of Arsenal Football Club from 1913 until 2006. Aerofilms Collection. Annotated.
Highbury Square, c.2015, site of the Arsenal Football Club’s former Highbury Stadium.
The church of St Thomas Finsbury Park, shown on the Charles Booth ‘Poverty Maps’ (1898-99). [Source: https://booth.lse.ac.uk]
Typical houses in St Thomas Road, London N4 c.2015
The geographical context of St Thomas the Apostle parish church in London N4.
St Thomas’s Road, London, N4, looking towards the old Highbury stadium (c.2010), with the roof and spire of St Thomas the Apostle parish church visible in the mid-distance..
St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4: Location. the Church is on the corner of St Thomas Road & Monsell Road, London N4 2QP a few minutes walk from Arsenal tube station.
Highbury Square, c.2015, site of the Arsenal Football Club’s former Highbury Stadium.

The parish of St Thomas the Apostle was formed out of the surrounding Islington parish in 1888 and owes its origin to a decision by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to sell-off a number of churches in the City of London (Union of Benefices Act, 1860).  The reason for the sales was that the burgeoning London suburbs had been rapidly emptying the City of its population and in order to defray the cost of the new suburban churches a number of underused City churches were sold.  St Thomas’s church was paid for by the sale of St Matthew’s Church, Friday Street for £22,005, the advowson of the new parish being held by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1898-99 the area was regarded as ‘middle class and well-to-do’. (Booth). The same is generally true today.

H.W.B. ‘St Matthew’s Church: Ruins before final demolition’. Source: City of London TA 04997
John Crowther (1837-1902) ‘Interior view of St Matthew Friday Street’ (1881). Source, London Metropolitan Archive q7706594
Anon. ‘Plan of St Matthew, Friday Street’ (1882). Source: London Metropolitan Archive q7706660
John Coney. ‘St Matthew’s Church, Friday Street’, Engr. T Skelton (1814). Source: City of London TA 31332
Anon. ‘St Matthew, Friday Street, exterior’, c18. Source: City of London TA 31328

The new church building of St Thomas the Apostle cost £7,500 and was the work of Ewan Christian (1814–95), architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. It is built of brick and stone in Christian’s favourite Early English style and was consecrated in 1889. It consists of chancel (with a sedila of Derbyshire marble), nave (with arcades in blue stone), aisles, a chapel at the east end of the south aisle, baptistery, organ chamber, north and south porches and a turret.

The west end of the church of St Thomas the Apostle, Finsbury Park, London N4 Built 1888-89 to the designs of church architect Ewan Christian (1814-1895) Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved] © Copyright Julian Osley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4: west end, roof and spire.
St Thomas’s Road, London, N4, looking towards the old Highbury stadium (c.2010), with the roof and spire of St Thomas the Apostle parish church visible in the mid-distance..
The east end of the church of St Thomas the Apostle, Finsbury Park, London N4 Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved] © Copyright Julian Osley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The church building is largely unaltered since it was opened in 1889 and despite its small scale and modest appearance is – once inside – quite lovely and spacious in feeling. It is well maintained and well used. In the 1990s the chancel and sanctuary were redecorated in a period style by the English muralist Alan Dodd (b.1944).

St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4. South aisle chapel, looking east, c.2013. Source © Copyright John Salmon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4, interior looking east, c.2013. Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved] © Copyright John Salmon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Chancel and Sanctuary of St Thomas the apostle parish church, London N4 (c.2010) . Source: The National Churches Trust http://www.nationalchurchestrust.org

The pipe organ is original to the building, installed in 1889 by the (now defunct) local firm of Alfred Monk. Inevitably, after nearly 130 years of constant use the organ is now rather tired and in need of some mechanical refreshment, for which fundraising is underway. Even so, while this is no recital instrument it has a strong clear sound and continues to serve the parish well in accompanying the liturgy.

The console of the 1889 Alfred Monk pipe-organ in St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4, c.2009
The pipe organ by Alfred Monk (1889) in St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4 c.2016.
The builder’s plate on the 1889 organ in St Thomas the Apostle parish church, London N4

 

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