Sir John Soane | >Re-PHOTO

St Pancras Old Church & More – 1990

St Pancras Old Church & More: More from my wanderings to the north of St Pancras and Kings Cross on February 18th 1990. This walk began with Between Kings Cross & St Pancras – 1990 and continued in Gasholders, Goods Way and Midland Road, 1990.

*The Chenies, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-41*

This 8 storey block was built in a vaguely Art Deco style in the late 1940s as council flats for St Pancras Borough Council, one of two blocks in the Godlington Street Estate. Later it passed to the London Borough of Camden. John Russell, an adviser to Henry VIII was given the title Earl of Bedford in 1551 and the Bedford family later gained other titles including that of Baron Rusell of Chenies. The Bedford estate owns much of Bloomsbury and some other parts of Camden and in the 16th century acquired Chenies Manor in Buckinghamshire by marriage.

Pancras Tyres, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-42

The former premises of Pancras Tyres which had moved, though it was now impossible to see where they had moved to, I could still read 56 PEN, but there are a surprising number of streets in London beginning with Pen. The notice obscuring the rest of the address claims that (despite the move) the gates are in constant use, but they were certainly not while I was there.

St Pancras Old Church, St Pancras Old Burial Ground, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-4311-13th Century church enlarged by A D Gough and R L Roumieu in 1847-8century, later restorations and 'Norman' remodelling by A W Blomfield. Still in use. — *St Pancras Old Church, St Pancras Old Burial Ground, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-43*

This Grade II* listed 11-13th Century church was enlarged by A D Gough and R L Roumieu in 1847-8 and later ‘restored’ with Norman remodelling by A W Blomfield, Very little can now be seen of the original Norman building, but there are claims that there are some much older Roman remains in parts of the walls, and that this was a place of worship possibly as long ago as AD 314, A 6th century altar stone was found here.

The church remains in use as “a traditional Anglo-Catholic church that rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishops” and as a music venue.

*The Hardy Tree, St Pancras Old Burial Ground, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-22*

The railway line out of St Pancras Station runs through St Pancras Old Burial Ground and before it could be built in 1865 many of the graves their had to be dug up and moved. Some were piled up in a heap here, with the young Thomas Hardy, then an assistant to architect Arthur Blomfield, delegated to be the overseer for the work. At the centre of the pile of gravestones was an seed or small sapling, which sprouted and grew into the large ash tree whose trunk can just be seen in my picture and which became known and loved as ‘The Hardy Tree’.

Sadly the tree became infected with a fungus in 2014, severely weakening it and on 27th December 2022 it collapsed. A beech sapling was planted in 2024 to replace the original tree.

*Tomb, Sir John Soane, St Pancras Old Burial Ground, Pancras Rd, Somers Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-26*

Sir John Soane (1753 – 1837) was one of Britain’ greatest architects, the son of a bricklayer who rose to became a professor of architecture and was responsible for influential Neo-Classical buildings including the Bank of England and Dulwich Picture Gallery.

He designed this Grade I listed tomb following the death of his wife in 1815 and it was erected here in 1816. His wife, Soane and his son were all buried here. In 1924, Giles Gilbert Scott (son of Sir George Gilbert Scott architect of St Pancras Station and hotel) walked in the burial ground and was inspired by the central part of this tomb for his entry to the comptition to design a telephone box. His winning entry, the K2, produced in 1926 was the iconic telephone box – though it changed a little over the years, developing into the 1935 K6 model.

Gas Holders, Camley St, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-14 — *Gasholders, Camley St, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-14*

I walked back towards the stations, turning down Goods Way where I could not resist taking a few more pictures of the gas holders.

Gas Holders, Camley St, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-15 — *Gasholders, Camley St, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-15*

Gas Holders, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-16 — *Gashholders, Goods Way, Kings Cross, Camden, 1990, 90-2e-16*

More pictures from around Kings Cross and Pentonville in a later post.

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Deforestation in Tasmania & a Walk in Bethnal Green – 2007

Deforestation in Tasmania & a Walk in Bethnal Green : Australians were protesting outside Australia House against plans for a wood pulp mill to use wood from Tasmania’s ancient forest which had become an election issue there. I left them to go to a guided walk around Bethnal Green led by a friend and author of a new book on the area for which I had provided sixteen photographs. The walk was among the last events arranged by the much missed London Arts Café which ceased activities at the end of 2007, though the web site is still online as a record of some of its life. Here with some small alterations is my 2007 account of the day with a few of the pictures I took.

No Pulp Mill – Save Tasmania’s Wild Forests

Australian High Commission, Strand

Deforestation in Tasmania & a Walk in Bethnal Green - 2007 — *Tasmanian premier Lennon and Australian PM Howard at Australia House*

The cutting down of ancient ‘old growth’ forests is a major political issue in Australia, and no more so than in Tasmania. With national elections announced for Australia on November 24th 2007, logging could play an important part.

Supported by liberal party (Conservative) Prime Minister John Howard and Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon, a new pulp mill will speed the loss of the old forests, destroying valuable habitats and threatening extinction for unique species such as the Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagle.

Cutting down the forest will also remove a valuable sink that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (and of course produces oxygen), and pulp processing in the new plant will emit 10 million tons of CO2 a year, as well as discharging 64,000 tons of toxic effluent into the ocean each day.

Ironically, part of the pressure for the cutting down of forests comes from the growing business of carbon offsetting. Much of the land currently occupied by the forests will, after the existing ancient forest is cleared, be replanted with trees that will be used to produce an income in carbon offset schemes.

more pictures – no pulp mill – save tasmania’s wild forests

The Romance of Bethnal Green

We had a fine day for our book-related walk around Bethnal Green and a good audience. Our meeting point was the Museum of Childhood, which features in two of my sixteen pictures in the book ‘The Romance of Bethnal Green‘ (ISBN 9781901992748), Cathy Ross, 2007). Our tour took in a number of art shows open in 2007 as well as the buildings in the area.

One of my pictures in the book shows the sculpture which was in the space at the front of the museum for many years, and I was surprised to find it now inside, at the rear of the café area, its bronze given a white coating (perhaps so the ice-cream won’t show), and another features some of the panels on the outside of the building about agriculture.

[The museum has since been revamped as Young V&A and was the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024.]

Just down the road we stopped at St John’s Church, its frontage and tower still clearly the work of Sir John Soane, although the rest of the church was remodelled after a fire in the 1870s. Jane Prophet’s ‘heart’ then on show in the organ loft brought back too many memories of my own surgery for comfort, and I quickly left.

We went across the Roman Road and into the library where Foster Spragge is building a cylinder of thousands of used rail tickets. Unfortunately she was at lunch when we were there, and the cylinder was protected by a roll of corrugated paper, though this perhaps improved the photograph.

Down Roman Road we went into IAP Fine Art to look at the work of Maggi Hambling and Chris Gollon, who has been commissioned to produce Stations Of The Cross for St Johns and also a work on Henley for the 2012 Olympics.

Opposite the former site of Camerawork I talked a little about photography, the Half Moon Photography Workshop, and the work of Jo Spence and Paul Trevor, as well as the decline of Camerwork magazine into the quagmire of theory.

[Camerawork merged in the early 2000s with cinema workshop Four Corners a few doors down the street and after a rebuilding project reopened in 2007 and continues to hold shows continuing the social documentary and community spirit of HMPW.]

Around the corner the Usk Street Estate is a real architectural gem by Denys Lasdun from 1952, looking more modern than many recent developments thanks to a recent refurbishment. Work on the Grade II Listed Sulkin and Trevelyan tower blocks cost £2.8m. These are buildings that perhaps deserve to be better known, certainly some of the more interesting of their era, and perhaps more radical than his later Keeling house (1959) a mile or so away.

I also find Usk Street rather more interesting than the Cranbrook Estate across the road, by Skinner Bailey & Lubetkin (1965) which proves that sticking bilious green rectangles on ugly blocks still leaves them as ugly blocks. At least it provided a refuge for Elizabeth Frink’s Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green when vandalism forced his move from his intended home in the market square.

We took the bus back along Bethnal Green Road to the top of brick lane and walked up to admire Arnold Circus, before visiting Nomoregrey in Redchurch Steet to look at Jock Mcfadyen’s work there – I particularly liked his images of the wide open spaces further east – such as Dagenham, River Road and Showcase Cinema, reminding me of my visits to these areas.

Finally I went to view a projection of photographs by Paul Trevor at Rich Mix, and as I wrote found his fine images were getting rather lost by a poor display – which we later got them to improve.

I first met Paul Trevor many years ago and have long admired his work. He is living evidence to the almost total lack of interest by major British galleries and museums to most British photography. He is a truly inspired photographer who has lived and worked in the east end for years, creating a fantastic stock of images from the area.

More on My London Diary at the romance of bethnal green.

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Liverpool Grove & Octavia Hill

This continues my posts on my walk in Walworth on 8th January 1989. The previous post was People’s Health, Chapel Furniture, Sutherland Square & Groce Bros.

St Peter's Church, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-63 — *St Peter’s Church, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-64*

Liverpool Grove was designated as a conservation area in 1982 as the Octavia Hill (Liverpool Grove) Conservation Area. The street runs east from Walworth Road with this vista of St Peter’s Church, then goes south of the church, continuing to the east as far as Portland Street (named after an earlier Prime Minister, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.)

Churchyard, St Peter's Walworth and Trafalgar House, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-65 — Churchyard, St Peter’s Walworth and Trafalgar House, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-65

The area to the east of the Walworth Road was first developed around the end of the wars against Napoleon, and Liverpool Grove gets its name from Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool who was the Tory Prime minister from 1812 to 1827. So far as I’m aware he had no particular connection with the area. His almost 15 years as prime minister makes him the third longest serving after Sir Robert Walpole and William Pitt the Younger. A rather odder claim to fame is that he was the first of our prime ministers to wear long trousers.

Rear, St Peter's Church, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-66 — *Rear, St Peter’s Church, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-66*

The development of the area created a need for a new church, and Sir John Soane (1753-1837) was appointed as architect with St Peter’s Church being consecrated in 1826. It is now Grade I listed. It was the first church designed by Sir John Soane and badly damaged during WW2, then rebuilt in 1953.

*Octavia Hill Housing, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1979 89-1c-53*

There are some remains of the first early Georgian and later Victorian housing in the area but the largest area around St Peter’s Church belonged to the Church of England and by the end of the 19th century had become one of LOndon’s most densely populated slums – or ‘rookeries’ as they were known.

*Octavia Hill Housing, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1979 89-1c-54*

In 1904 the Church asked Octavia Hill, (1838-1912) one of the leading housing reformers since the 1860s to oversee the redevelopment of the area. She set new standards for working class housing and the estate includes cottage style terrace houses and three-storey tenement flats, some reflecting a Regency Style and others Arts and Crafts, in Liverpool Grove and side-streets from it including Saltwood Grove, Worth Grove, Portland St, Wooler St,

*Worth Grove, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1979 89-1c-55*

Although the estate has a fairly high population density, Hill was also inspired by the Garden City Movement and the Arts and Craft village style development included the planting of many street trees; they or possibly their later replacements are very clear in my photographs.

*Worth Grove, Liverpool Grove, Walworth, Southwark, 1979 89-1c-43*

Her development from 1904-1914 remains largely intact and at least externally little altered, with only a very small area of Second World War bomb damage being rebuilt to a similar design. There was rather more redevelopment of the surrounding area in the 1950s.

*Merrow St, Walworth, Southwark, 1979 89-1c-46*

The area is an incredibly well preserved example of early twentieth century social
housing, with a very different scale to much of the large blocks of the era by housing associations such as Peabody.

This walk will continue in a later post.

The first post on this walk was Elephant, Faraday, Spurgeon & Walworth Road.