Herbert Nelson – Andrew Pink

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1, showing its relationship to St Pancras station and the Regent’s Canal.

The location of St Pancars Old Church, London NW!

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1, south side, 2008. Source: Stephen McKay, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13429363

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. A contemporary plan showing the position of funerary monuments. Source: Survey of London.

St Pancras Old Church, London Nw1. Chancel, 2009. Source: John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14254299

I have recently had the opportunity to revisit the medieval church of Old St Pancras to help out with the music for the main Sunday service there. This was a rather nostalgic visit since I was organist there immediately after my days as a post-graduate organ student at the Royal Academy of Music (1980-81), and I subsequently taught for a while at the parish school.

Old St Pancras church is modest in scale, comprising just an unaisled nave and chancel with a 19th-century tower on the south side. The history of Old St Pancras church is well documented, dating from at least Saxon times while some would claim that the site dates back to the days of the Roman occupation. Images and maps showing the building in its setting are plentiful.

Anon. ‘The south west view of St Pancras Church and the Wells’ (1750) Source: London Mteropolitan Archive, ref.19970.

Anon (c.1775) ‘Sketch of St Pancras fields and distant view of St Pancras Old Church.’ Source: London Metropolitan Archive, ref. p5381780

The Long Room at St Pancras Wells, with Old St Pancras Church behind. [Early 18th century]. Source: Survey of London.

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. The church depicted before 1815. Source: Survey of London.

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. The church depicted around 1752. Source: Survey of London.

St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. The church depicted before 1848. Source: Survey of London.

A 16th-century plan of the estate of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, showing Old St Pancras Church and its surroundings. Source: Survey of London.

There was a major rebuilding project in 1848 by the partnership of Alexander D. Gough (1804–71) and Robert Lewis Roumieu (1814–77). At this time, when the old tower was relocated and redesigned, Continue reading “St Pancras Old Church …”