General Information

St Luke’s Church, previously a redundant Anglican church in the parish of Camden Town in London was reopened quite recently, in January 2012. The elaborate building was constructed in 1867 and it has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.

History: Highlights

The construction in the 1860s of the Midland Railway’s London terminus, St Pancras railway station, necessitated the demolition of a number of buildings on Euston Road, one of which was the recently erected St Luke’s Church, built in 1856-61 on the corner of Midland Road. The church was taken down and re-erected in 1866-7 on the current site.

Architecture: Highlights

The new St Luke’s was built in 1867-9 to the designs of the 25-year-old, renowned architect Basil Champneys. It was his first church and one of his first buildings. The tower with its saddleback gabled roof is in the North German style, with three arcaded openings to the belfry and plate tracery above. The detail of the nave, chancel and aisles is Early English revival.

Architecture: Explained

The exterior of the church is largely red brick with stone dressings, and the roof is tiled. The nave has four bays with narrow aisles. The chancel is situated beneath the tower. It has a polygonal apse with plate tracery. The west end has three lancet windows, with a plate tracery rose window above. The aisles and clerestory have pointed windows in pairs. The walls are of exposed red brick with two bands of stone. The nave arcades have low cylindrical pillars. Between the arches are shafts which support the principal roof timbers. The floor is paved with red and black tiles. From the crossing, there are three steps up to the brick-vaulted chancel and a further six steps up to the sanctuary, which has decorative tiles and sedilia. Inside, there are also notable pieces of stained glass windows.