St George's Cathedral, London

Last updated

St. George's Cathedral
formerly Christ Church
AntiochanOrthodoxCathedral London.JPG
St George's Cathedral, London
Location London, NW1
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
Previous denomination Church of England
Website www.stgeorgeantioch.org
History
Former name(s)Christ Church
Dedicated1837
Architecture
Architect(s) James Pennethorne
Style Neoclassical

St George's Cathedral is an Antiochian Orthodox church in Albany Street, St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. 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.

Contents

Description

The building, designed by James Pennethorne, 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. [1] 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 runs around the whole building, with a simple brick parapet above it. The windows are round-headed. [1] There is a tower above the entrance, topped by an octagonal spire. [1] The steeple is unusually small in comparison with the main body of the church. [2]

History

Anglican church

It was built as an Anglican church to serve the largely working class district of Cumberland Market. [2] Consecrated on 13 July 1837, [1] it established itself firmly within the high church Oxford Movement. [2] Its first incumbent, William Dodsworth, previously of the Margaret Street Chapel, resigned on his conversion to Roman Catholicism. [1]

On the recommendation of the painter William Collins R.A, a copy of Raphael's Transfiguration by Thomas Brigstocke was purchased as an altarpiece. [3] Alterations were made to the church between 1839 and 1843 by the architect R.C. Carpenter, [4] and further changes, including the installation of an elaborate inlaid marble floor, were made in 1867 by William Butterfield. [1]

Christ Church was frequented by Christina Rossetti who lived in Albany Street for a couple of years. [2] [5] Her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti produced a stained-glass window depicting the Sermon on the Mount for the church (a second version is elsewhere). [6]

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, was held at the church, as it was near to both Middlesex Hospital where he died and BBC Broadcasting House, where he worked. [7] [8]

In 1974, the Albany Consort, an early music group, was founded at the church. [9]

The church was designated a Grade II* listed building on 10 June 1954. [10]

Orthodox cathedral

In 1989 Christ Church ceased to be a place of Anglican worship and became St George's Cathedral. With St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate in the City of London it is one of two Antiochan churches in London. A new roof was built in 2000.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentish Town</span> Human settlement in England

Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open spaces of Hampstead Heath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Pancras, London</span> Area of central London, England

St Pancras is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around half of the modern London Borough of Camden. The area of the parish and borough includes the sub-districts of Camden Town, Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, Somers Town, King's Cross, Chalk Farm, Dartmouth Park, the core area of Fitzrovia and a part of Highgate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Gilbert Scott</span> 19th-century English architect

Sir George Gilbert Scott, known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him.

Somers Town is an inner-city district in North West London. It has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King's Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Somers Town Goods Depot (1887) next to St Pancras, where the British Library now stands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Loughborough Pearson</span> British architect

John Loughborough Pearson was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation. He worked on at least 210 ecclesiastical buildings in England alone in a career spanning 54 years.

Sir James Pennethorne was a British architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Cathedral</span> Anglican cathedral in Liverpool, England

Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool or the Cathedral Church of the Risen Christ, Liverpool, being dedicated to Christ 'in especial remembrance of His most glorious Resurrection'. Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral and religious building in Britain, and the eighth largest church in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Pancras New Church</span> Church in London, England

St Pancras Church is a Greek Revival church in St Pancras, London, built in 1819–22 to the designs of William and Henry William Inwood. The church is one of the most important 19th-century churches in England and is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Pancras Old Church</span> Church in Somers Town, Central London

St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in Somers Town, Central London. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, and is believed by many to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England. The church is situated on Pancras Road in the London Borough of Camden, with the surrounding area and its international railway station taking its name. St Pancras Old Church, which was largely rebuilt in the Victorian era, should not be confused with St Pancras New Church (1819–1822) about 860 metres (940 yd) away, on Euston Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Cathedral, Camden Street</span> Church in London, England

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 church known as the Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church of All Saints. It stands where Camden Street and Pratt Street meet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady chapel</span> Separate chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary within a greater church

A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, and they were traditionally the largest side chapel of a cathedral, placed eastward from the high altar and forming a projection from the main building, as in Winchester Cathedral. Most Roman Catholic and many Anglican cathedrals still have such chapels, while mid-sized churches have smaller side-altars dedicated to the Virgin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's Church, Camden Town</span> Church in London NW , United Kingdom

St Michael's Church is the principal Anglican church for Camden Town 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ's Church Cathedral (Hamilton, Ontario)</span> Old Anglican church in Canada, cathedral church for the Anglican Diocese of Niagara

Christ's Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, located at 252 James Street North, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The parish was established in 1835, with construction for the present building taking place from 1852 to 1873. The cathedral has gone through several expansions and renovations since its opening in 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone</span> Church in London, England

Holy Trinity Church, in Marylebone, Westminster, London, is a Grade I listed former Anglican church, built in 1828 and designed by John Soane. In 1818 Parliament passed an act setting aside one million pounds to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon. This is one of the so-called "Waterloo churches" that were built with the money. It has an external pulpit facing onto Marylebone Road, erected in memory of the Revd. William Cadman MA (1815-1891), who was rector of the parish from 1859 - 1891, renowned for his sonorous voice and preaching The building has an entrance off-set with four large Ionic columns. There is a lantern steeple, similar to St Pancras New Church, which is also on Euston Road to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany Street</span>

Albany Street is a road in London running from Marylebone Road to Gloucester Gate following the east side of Regent's Park. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Street</span>

Charlotte Street is a street in Fitzrovia, historically part of the parish and borough of St Pancras, in central London. It has been described, together with its northern and southern extensions, as the spine of Fitzrovia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Market</span>

Cumberland Market was a London market between Regent's Park and Euston railway station. It was built in the early 19th century and was London's hay and straw market for a hundred years until the late 1920s. An arm of the Regent's Canal was built to the market. The market was surrounded by modest housing, and in the early 20th century became an artistic community. The original houses were demolished during and after the Second World War and it is now a housing estate, known as Regent's Park Estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Brigstocke</span>

Thomas Brigstocke was a Welsh portrait painter. He studied art in London, and then spent eight years in Italy before returning to England. In the 1840s he visited Egypt, where he painted portraits of Mohammed Ali Pasha and his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton</span> Church in New South Wales, Australia

Christ Church Cathedral is a heritage-listed Anglican cathedral complex at Duke Street, Grafton, Clarence Valley Council, New South Wales, Australia. The cathedral was designed by John Horbury Hunt and built from 1874 to 1884 by Reynold Brothers (brickwork) and G. J. T. Lawson (woodwork). It is also known as Cathedral Church of Christ the King and Grafton Anglican Cathedral. The property is owned by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 March 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Christchurch, Albany Street". Survey of London: volume 21: The parish of St Pancras part 3: Tottenham Court Road & neighbourhood. 1949. pp. 150–2. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Christina Georgina Rossetti". Project Canterbury.
  3. Stanley, George, ed. (1866). "Brigstocke, Thomas". A Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers: Forming a Supplement to Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. London: H. G. Bohn.
  4. Historic England. "Christ Church, Albany Street, Camden (1378620)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  5. "Lead, Kindly Light; Christina Rossetti". Anglicanhistory.org. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  6. William Morris and Selsley Church. Examples of Morris & Co's stained glass and the genesis of the Arts and Craft movement in the Cotswolds Archived 4 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Christ Church". Archived from the original on 26 July 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 August 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Albany Consort". "THE ALBANY CONSORT, biografía, discografía". Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  10. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1378620)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 22 January 2009.

Sources

Coordinates: 51°31′49″N0°8′40″W / 51.53028°N 0.14444°W / 51.53028; -0.14444