Church Of St Martin

CAMDEN

TQ2885SW VICARS ROAD 798-1/41/1670 (South side) 10/06/54 Church of St Martin

GV I

Church. 1864-6. By EB Lamb for JD Allcroft; later chapel at north-west corner after 1915 by his son EB Lamb junior. Kentish ragstone rubble with fine dressings. Tiled gabled roofs with fishscale diaper patterns. EXTERIOR: west part of nave 3 bays, aisleless, then 3 aisled bays with the transept cutting into the nave and as high as this, and with the other bays of the aisle treated as angle chapels; polygonal apse narrower than the almost polygonal south transept. Tall, 3 stage north tower (originally with corner pinnacles) close to west end with attached, even taller stair turret. Unusual modified Gothic design with eclectic and original details. Imaginative Perpendicular windows with eccentric cusping and heavy transoms, called "Tudor" by Nikolaus Pevsner. To north of apse and on south side near east end, small towers with broach spires. INTERIOR: with elaborate carved hammerbeam roof throughout resting on shafts which do not go down to the ground but start from Cistercian-like brackets attached to each side of the large square piers which stand between nave and aisles. Lamb's choir stalls and pews, altar rails with pierced decoration, font with cover and pulpit remain. Massive organ in south choir aisle. Royal arms over south porch inside. Initials of JBA (outside) and EBL (within). Vestry fully panelled. Stained glass at east end contemporary with the church, as is the mosaic spandrel decoration in the chancel. Mosaic floors. Stained glass in nave dated 1905 and 1907: St Cecilia in memory of Harriet Puzey, organist, one by Morris and Co. Heraldic glass in transepts post-1945. Transept also has commandment boards. Memorial to John Derby Allcroft 1821-93. HISTORICAL NOTE: Allcroft was a wealthy glove manufacturer and strong Evangelical who paid for several churches. (Survey of London: Vol. XXIV, King's Cross Neighbourhood, St Pancras IV: London: -1952: 144).

Listing NGR: TQ2816285282