Roman Catholic Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Roman Catholic Church of St Peter and St Paul, Islington, was originally built in 1835 as a non-conformist chapel by John Blyth for the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion. It is now a Roman Catholic church and stands as part of a contemporary terrace. The building is constructed of gold stock bricks in English bond, with a stucco ground floor, dressings, and rusticated quoins. The roof is obscured by a high stucco cornice.

The building presents a rectangular plan with a symmetrical facade to Amwell Street. A flight of steps leads to three deeply-recessed ground-floor entrances, each with an architrave, keystone, and panelled 20th-century doors. The central bay on the ground floor is distinguished by a grand pilastrade of blind, irregular, Ionic columns. A faint inscription on the frieze above the central entrance reads "NORTHAMPTON TABERNACLE". The ground-floor bays flank the central entrance with 16-paned fixed sashes, while the outer bays have 18-paned rectangular overlights above the doors. The first floor features a stucco band with corbels to the outer bays; the central bay is articulated by a cornice relating to the ground-floor pilastrade. A large architraved Venetian window with irregular multi-paned glazing, a keystone, and a balustraded base is centrally placed, with flanking round-arched sashes of similar design in the outer bays. A stucco cornice and parapet with a heightened blocking course is inscribed with the date “ERECTED 1835”.

The interior is plain Neo-Classical in design, although partially remodeled in the 20th century. Original full-height blind arcading, supported by Corinthian pilasters, extends to the east end of the church. The side walls are finished with 19th-century dado panelling, a modillioned cornice, and an original flat ceiling with square coffering, gilded rosettes, and three elaborately patterned cast iron ceiling roses. A fine 19th-century gallery occupies the rear and sides of the chapel, supported by slender cast-iron Ionic columns and featuring a balustrade with cast-iron panels of gilded Gothic-style tracery. The side walls have limited fenestration. A shallow vestibule, created by a 1972 glazed partition, provides access to the rear of the church and to flanking gallery staircases.

The building’s history includes use as the Northampton Tabernacle for the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion, followed by a lease to Roman Catholics from 1847. It was also formerly known as the Rosoman Street Mission.