religious
Joseph Peacock, 1887
Cromer Street, WC1H 8JU
Grade ll listed Oxford Movement Anglican church built 1887-88. Historic England describe the exterior as ‘quirky and aggressive’ but the interior is ‘very spare and elegant, the proportions subtly adjusted’. The building is also interesting for its 2019 conversion of a crypt area, partly now rented commercially to a drama school but also used for community groups.
Euston, King's Cross St. Pancras, Russell Square
Euston, King's Cross
73, 205, 390
The Church is a 5 minute walk south of King's Cross and St Pancras station and very close to Euston too
There is a ramp up to the church door so easy to get in.
We will have a handout for visitors and plenty of space to sit and read. There will be soft drinks and water for visitors.
11:00–16:00
Drop in and talk to church members about the building, its plans, its structural problems, and the redevelopment already undertaken
12:00–12:30
Fr Christopher will tell the story of Holy Cross and its neighbourhood, and it's current ambitions
13:00–16:00
Another opportunity to talk about the problems of caring for a listed building and widening its use
Holy Cross Church was consecrated in1888, its building made possible by the Goodenough family following the death of Commodore Goodenough on the island of Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands in 1875. A brass plaque behind the font commemorates this link. The church bell was taken from the Commodore’s ship ‘HMS Pearl’.
Although the Church had rich benefactors, its parishioners in 1888 were very poor. The catholic revival in the Church of England was part of a wider Christian mission to the poor, later championed by the Salvation Army as well. New parishes were established in densely-populated city areas. Holy Cross was a mission station before it became a parish. There is a strong tradition of community service at Holy Cross.
The closeness of transport hubs makes the congregation truly international. The church's close links with nearby Goodenough College, an international residential college for postgraduate students, adds to the church's international character.
We also have strong links with London's South Sudan community, and with our local Bangladeshi and Somali neighbours.
The annual Bloomsbury Festival uses the church for both performances and rehearsals. The church has very good acoustics and we want to expand its use for music performance especially.
Respected critic Ian Nairn said (in Nairn's London, 1966): 'The outside is cheap and shrugged off; there are a hundred like it in London's suburbs. Inside it is as honest and selfless as King's Cross station...Nothing unnecessary and nothing put on for form's sake...'
The braced king post roof is one of the 'great glories' of the interior, according to Historic England's listing.
The nave is broad for its length and the aisles very wide. The elevated choir and sanctuary is enclosed by a wood screen which may be the work of Sir Charles Nicholson (1867-1949). Nicholson worked at Holy Cross around 1913.
The moveable benches are late Victorian.
A small stained glass window on the south wall, ‘Christ the Good Shepherd’, was designed and made by Martin Travers (1886-1948), a distinguished church artist in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.
The Walsingham Chapel at the back of the church is a reminder of Father Alfred Hope Patten who was inspired to restore the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham while a curate at Holy Cross from 1913-15.
The Stations of the Cross are not unique – there are identical ones in the Chapel of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John's Wood and perhaps in other places too. We would like to know more about their production.
Finally and sadly, you will see cracks. There is settlement of the foundations at the north east corner of the Church causing structural cracking to the vestry and associated walls of the Church itself. We are working with neighbouring churches to coordinate how we serve the local community and to identify funding sources for repairs. There were repairs to the roof and guttering in 2023. The next step is to install a WC in a vestry. Fund-raising is about to start.
Our website will keep you in touch with events at Holy Cross - https://holycrosscromerstreet.org/
Drop in / Walking tour
community/cultural, museum, art studio, gallery, walk/tour, event
A great little museum set in the Grade 2 listed Ossulston Estate - a prime example of pre-war Social housing - based on Karl Marz Hof in Vienna. Open Tuesday to Friday 9am-5pm, plus Saturday 14th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September 11am-4pm.
G Topham Forest, 1927
Drop in / Guided tour
institution/profession, gallery, health
Grade II* listed building. Restored in 2012 to showcase magnificent Edwardian faience tile work, mosaic floor and other historic features in transformed modern surroundings that now provide the headquarters of the RCGP.
Arthur Beresford Pite, 1908
