St Pancras Old Church

St Pancras Old Church is just five minutes walk from St Pancras International Railway Station and is dedicated to the Christian martyr Saint Pancras, who was executed by the Romans at the age of fourteen when he refused to denounce his faith.  He is the patron saint of children. 

The Church is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, perhaps dating back to AD 314. Roman tiles, Norman elements and Saxon altar stone have all been found on the site.  There are references to the Church in The Doomsday Book.  

In the fourteenth century the local population abandoned the site and moved to what is now Kentish Town.  The River Fleet, which is now underground, runs through the churchyard and made it very vulnerable to flooding and this probably prompted the relocation. The Church subsequently fell into disrepair.  It was then used by Catholics, being one of only the only places where they were able to be buried.  J C Bach was buried here along with many French refugees.  It seems to have been a place for outsiders.  Quick weddings were also performed with no questions asked.  Mary Wollstonecraft, the early feminist, was married here when pregnant in 1797.  She died soon afterwards and was buried here.  

In the mid 19th century the Church was restored.  There were further restorations in 1888,
in 1925 when the plaster ceiling and the side galleries were removed, and in 1948 following

bomb damage. The building was designated a grade II* listed building in 1954. 

Inside the Church is small, simple and homely.  The surrounding area has seen massive

development and the Church's community appears to thriving.

The Churchyard is mainly grass and tended by Camden Council.  However before it's closure in
1854 it had seen almost 100,000 burials in 150 years.  As well as Mary and J C Bach, 
John Soane, (see my earlier post about his museum) and his wife Eliza are buried here along
with their eldest son John in the wonderful mauseleum which John Snr designed for Eliza.  It's
style was very unusual at the time and later influenced the design of the telephone box.  It is now 
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As you can see, one side is blank, I wonder if it were intended for George, the rebellious younger son, who fell out of favour.

During the building of the Midland Railway in the mid nineteenth century, the graves needed to be relocated. This task was painstakingly overseen by none other than my hero, Thomas Hardy.  Here are some re-arranged tomb stones by the 'Hardy Tree'.


At the beginning of this century, the graveyard was once again thoroughly excavated to make way for High Speed 2. 

And below is Mary's grave.  Her remains were removed during the upheaval of the Midland Railway and taken to Bournemouth. Mary, who died in her late thirties as a result of childbirth wrote 'The Vindication of the Rights of Woman'.  If she had lived longer and thus had more impact, I think feminism may have been upon us sooner.  The child she gave birth to was Mary Shelley, the well known writer.

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