St Pancras

“ Pancras, Reculver, Brixworth, Peterborough, Lympne, and Rochester there was a triple chancel-arch. In St. Martin's the space is too narrow to admit of any such arrangement. If we carry back the original building of St. Pancras to Roman times (and we must remember that King Ethelbert is said by Bede to have allowed the Italian Missionaries to build and repair churches in all places) we do away with the difficulty as "to the temple of the heathen god being built after the fashion of a Christian church." ”

“ Pancras is still, by courtesy, called a village, though its charms may be of the rus-in-urbe description. It derives its name from the saint to whom the church is dedicated:1 it was called St. Pancras when the Survey of Domesday was taken. The parish is of great extent. Mr. Lysons states it at 2,700 acres of land, including the site of buildings. It is bounded on the north by Islington, Hornsey, and Finchley ”

“ The lateral chapels of St Pancras, which existed also in the Saxon cathedral of Canterbury, were developed into a transept, culminating in the cruciform plan with central tower. The characteristic “long-and-short” work, which consists of tall upright stones alternating with stones bedded flat bonding into the rubble work of the wall, has its prototype in the western arch of the porch of Monkwearmouth, and in the jambs of the chancel arch at Escomb. ”

“ The History of the Old Church of Saint Pancras is not a little singular; it is one of the oldest in the county of Middlesex, and the parish it belongs to one of the largest, being eighteen miles in circumference. The name was sent from Rome by the Pope, expressly for this church, which has the only general Catholic burial ground in England; and mass is daily said in St. Peter's, at Rome, for the repose of the souls of the faithful, whose bodies are deposited therein; and it was also the last church in England whose bell tolled for mass, or in which any Catholic rites were celebrated. ”

“ Father Arthur O'Leary died in London on January 8, 1802. The remains lay in state; a grand dirge was sung; an imposing funeral cortège followed them to Old St. Pancras, where a fine monument to his memory, inscribed with words of praise, soon marked the spot. Tradition states that Old St. Pancras was the last church in London where Mass was said after the Reformation: hence the wish felt by Catholics in penal days to sleep within its precincts. A visit to this historic graveyard in its present desecrated state awakens emotion. No ground, however, is sacred to the engineer. ”

“ In one respect the plan of St Pancras at Canterbury is allied to that of the church at Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire. At Bradford there remains one of the two porches, which also were probably side chapels, projecting from the sides of the nave. But at Bradford the remaining porch is larger in proportion to the nave than is the case at St Pancras. There is no entrance porch on the west side. Further, the chancel at Bradford is rectangular, not apsidal. Instead of a screen-wall with a central opening nine feet wide, the wall dividing nave from chancel is pierced by a small arch only 3 ft. ”

“ The most awful sights were to be witnessed in the open streets: men and women blown out of recognition, with their clothes singed and torn to shreds, and helpless, innocent children lying white and dead, their limbs torn away and missing.
Euston Station had shared the same fate as St. Pancras, and was blazing furiously, sending up a great column of black smoke that could be seen by all London. So many were the conflagrations now breaking out that it seemed as though the enemy were sending into London shells filled with petrol, in order to set the streets aflame. ”

“ Beyond the evangelists and the apostles, little do the people know of the other many saints [177] while they enter the churches that bear their names. Few of a congregation, we suspect, could give much account of St Pancras, St Margaret, St Werburgh, St Dunstan, St Clement, nor even of St George, but that he is pictured slaying a dragon, and is the patron saint of England. Yet were they once "household gods" in the land. It is a curious speculation this of patron saints, and how every family and person had his own. ”

“ The better residential district of Holborn, which extends northward to Euston Road in the borough of St Pancras, is mainly within the parish of St George, Bloomsbury. The name of Bloomsbury is commonly derived from William Blemund, a lord of the manor in the 15th century. A dyke called Blemund’s Ditch, of unknown origin, bounded it on the south, where the land was marshy. During the 18th century Bloomsbury was a fashionable and wealthy residential quarter. ”

“ For actual existing buildings that may possibly have been connected with the Roman occupation, we must have recourse to the churches, which supply us with traces of early Christianity more rich and numerous than that of any other town in England. These are to be found in St. Martin's, St. Pancras, and a church on the site of the present Cathedral. ”

“ It is remarkable that they should have departed from the usual Roman custom, and made their chancels at the east end of their churches: it is also remarkable to find at St Pancras the western porch, the origin of which appears to be the non-Roman narthex. Models existed, no doubt in the ruins of the Romano-British churches, which they repaired; and we have seen that at Silchester there [25] is a regular narthex, while, on the other hand, there is a western apse. These models, however, were probably all of one general type, in which the chancel end was formed by an apsidal projection. ”

“ Middlesex has always been included in the diocese of London. The archdeaconry of Middlesex, which includes part of Essex, is mentioned in 1151, but the Middlesex portion was not subdivided into rural deaneries until 1857, when the deaneries of Fulham, Ealing, Uxbridge, Staines, Hampton, Enfield, Harrow and St Pancras were created. ”

“ His sermons attracted working men by plain appeals to their good sense and right feeling. On 3 Nov. 1851, on the recommendation of Lord John Russell, he was appointed to a canonry in St. Paul's, and the dean and chapter of that cathedral in 1860 gave him the vicarage of St. Pancras, a benefice at one time held by his grandfather. The rectory of Whitechapel had been held by him during twenty-three years, and on his removal he received many valuable testimonials and universal expressions of regret at his departure. ”

“ Of this we read that it had a fanum, enclosed with septis, which contained idola and aras; [8] and since the temple was set on fire and thus destroyed, it seems likely that the fanum was of timber. The second temple named is the building east of Canterbury, in which King Ethelbert was accustomed to worship while yet a heathen, which, on the king’s conversion, was consecrated as a church and dedicated to St. Pancras, and was soon afterwards incorporated into the monastery of SS. Peter and Paul built on the site. ”

“ The most noteworthy modern churches are St Michael’s (1880) , All Saints’ (1892) , St John the Baptist’s (1899) and St Bartholomew’s (1901) . The Roman Catholic church of St Pancras (1863) , a late First Pointed edifice, has a richly carved reredos and a lofty flèche. Among public buildings, the town hall (1868) is an imposing structure in Venetian style, with clock tower; forming part of a fine group including the corn exchange (1881) and post office (1880) . ”

“ His plan was to direct his main attack against the priory of St Pancras, which sheltered the king and his brother Richard, earl of Cornwall, king of the Romans, while causing the enemy to believe that his principal objective was the castle, where Prince Edward was. But the surprise was not complete and the royalists rushed from the town to meet the enemy in the open field. Edward led his followers against the Londoners, who were gathered around the standard of Montfort, put them to flight, pursued them for several miles, and killed a great number of them. ”

“ From its summit a splendid view of the surrounding country can be obtained towards the chalk bluffs of the South Downs and the valley of the Ouse. The great gateway of the castle still stands, and in Southover, the suburb of Lewes, are the remains of the once large and wealthy Priory of St. Pancras. This was the first Cluniac establishment in England. It was founded by De Warenne and Gundrada, and continued to be of great importance up to the dissolution. Until about sixty years ago the old pigeon-house of the priory, containing 3228 pigeon-holes, was still standing. ”

“ One singularity in the treatment of Ionic antæ, is that of the face of the anta, a slight break being made down the middle of it, which causes it to appear composed of two very narrow faces put together side by side, but not exactly flush with each other. This kind of antæ, in imitation of those of the Erechtheum—perhaps the only precedent for it—has been adopted for St. Pancras’ Church. What could have led to it is rather difficult to conjecture, since there does not appear to be any adequate motive for it, or any purpose gained by it. ”

“ It came to the ground in a field at the back of St Pancras Church, the descent having occupied rather more than ten minutes. Garnerin was hurt a little by the violence with which the basket containing him struck the earth ”

“ If the Church was out of touch with the lay poor, she was even more open to criticism for her neglect of her own poor clergy. The scandal of the ragged curates had attracted Punch's attention in the 'forties. On September 19, 1846, he referred to the recent death, "raving mad, in penury and destitution," of the Rev. Mr. Kaye, of St. Pancras. A return, procured by the energetic inquisitiveness of Joseph Hume at the close of 1847, revealed the fact that the total number of assistant curates to incumbents resident on their benefices amounted in 1846 to 2,642, and the number licensed to 2,094. ”

“ One in the possession of a farmer in the parish of Barton Turf, Norfolk, bears an eagle with a human head at its feet, surrounded by—
"The . Erl . of . Darbeyes . arms." 1660.
W. C. LUKIS.
Great Bedwyn, June, 1851.
St. Pancras (Vol. iii., pp. 285. 397.) .
—St. Pancras was a native of the province of Phrygia, the son of a nobleman of the name of Cledonius ”

“ That which we have now mentioned is beyond question as perfect as human imagination can contrive or execute; and till we see it outdone, we shall hardly, think it to be equalled.”
This church is a rectory, and the chief of the thirteen peculiars in this city belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury. To it are united the parishes of Alhallows Honey lane, and St. Pancras, by which the Incumbent’s profits are much increased; he receiving, besides glebe, casualties, and three parsonage houses, 200l. per annum, in lieu of tithes. ”

“ Pancras, with its high brick tower surmounted by two pointed turrets, and with two ancient lime trees at its entrance. There stood the burgomaster, a tall, haggard, imposing figure, with dark visage, and a tranquil but commanding eye. He waved his broad-leaved felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which has been almost literally preserved, ‘What would ye, my friends? Why do ye murmur that we do not break our vows and surrender our city to the Spaniards?—a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures. ”

“ Pancras into fashion in England, and Pancrace and Pancragio have also named many churches in France and Italy. The lily called pancratium claims by its name to excel all others.
Πανταλέων, Pantaleon (altogether a lion) , was one of the numerous Christian physicians who suffered martyrdom. He died at Nicodemia, but his relics were brought to Constantinople, and thence to France, where he is the chief saint of the largest church at Lyons, and he is the patron of doctors next after St. Luke. His name was in use in France and Italy before. ”

“ These returns do not support the view that parents had a habit of naming children after the patron saint of the parish. The patron saint is Andrew at Moreton, and Pancras at Widdicombe; but Moreton has only twelve Andrews, whereas Widdicombe has eighteen Andrews and only one Pancras. Pancras is a pleasant name that parents might use oftener: it drops so nicely into Panny, like Pontius into Ponty. But parents are strange folk. ”

“ That the Italian Mission followed generally this ancient practice is shown in their dedication of the cathedrals of Canterbury, Rochester, London, and York to Christ, St. Andrew, St. Paul, and St. Peter respectively—of St. Augustine's Abbey church to St. Peter and St. Paul, of another church in the same abbey to the "Holy Mother of God," and also of the early Saxon church in Lyminge to St. Mary; but it is unnecessary to multiply further instances, the very rare exceptions to the rule (such as St. Pancras) applying principally to churches which contained the relics of martyrs. ”

“ Pancras, one of the most lucrative in the cathedral of St. Paul's, and soon afterwards he was appointed subdean of Lincoln and rector of Bishopwearmouth. Between these two places his residence was divided during the latter years of his life. In 1800 Paley was seized with a painful disorder in the kidneys, which, however, did not prevent him from writing his "Natural Theology," one of his most popular compositions. The man who can bear pain like a stoic, may be permitted to enjoy pleasure like an epicurean. Paley could do both. ”

“ Pancras was dissolved by Henry VIII. in 1537, Thomas Cromwell, that execrable vandal, not only abolishing the monks but destroying the buildings, which covered, with their gardens and fish ponds, forty acres. The ruins that remain give some idea of the [Pg 246] extent of this wonderful priory, another relic being the adjacent mound on which the Calvary stood, probably constructed of the earth removed for the purpose from the Dripping Pan, as the hollow circular space is called where Lewes now plays cricket. ”