St Mary’s in Eversholt Street

THE threat of a wrecker’s ball swinging against a historic Somers Town church looks to have been stilled after the Church of England agreed to meet a possible £4million repair bill.

St Mary’s in Eversholt Street dates from the 1820s and holds a special place in the area’s past.

It was St Mary’s vicar Father Basil Jellicoe who set up the St Pancras Housing Association in the 1920s, which cleared slums and was the first attempt to provide social housing in Britain.

Father Paschal Worton told the New Journal that he had led a delegation to plead the case for St Mary’s and a new campaign group called The Friends of St Mary’s Somers Town is set to be established.

He added: “I was absolutely shocked when we first heard the church was under threat. In Somers Town, so much of the heritage has already gone.

“The diocese was amazed at the results of a consultation on demolition. The church has now said it cannot be demolished – and this has given us hope.”

In an unusual step, four church officers including Fr Paschal were allowed to address a meeting of senior church figures at the diocese where they argued the case for saving it.

He said: “The diocese now know the views of people in the area, and they came to the decision to throw out the measure for the time being. We have been given a reprieve.

The story has not ended, but we have been given time to raise money needed.” It represents a happy U-turn from church authorities, who had told the shocked congregation in October 2022 that work was too expensive to do, and demolition was the likely outcome.

Fr Paschal said: “The Edmonton Episcopal area had voted to start what is known as a Pastoral Measure, which was to consider closing St Mary’s and demolishing the church. We held a meeting in February and brought together around 20 interested groups, including Historic England, the Georgian Society and Camden Council.”

It showed the strength of support they had.

One issue facing the church is the need for scaffolding to ensure pieces of masonry do not tumble into the street.

Fr Paschal said: “At first, we spent £100,000 on it – which was years and years of savings, gone. It isn’t cheap and of course we want it to come down as soon as possible.”

The scaffolding is now being funded by the Diocese of London. Fr Paschal said a renovation bill could reach £6m.

“Emergency repairs are £1.7m but it could be as much has  £2m,” he said.

“That is to address the masonry problems. The next bit could be as much as £4m, to make it all singing and all dancing. And the need for the church and a community space will only grow. Euston is becoming busier and busier and we have so  many people coming in through our doors.

“Our church is not a place where you have to sign a register to come in, where you have to speak with a receptionist. It is a place that is non-judgemental.

“The end game is to make St Mary’s more beautiful and adapt it in ways that it is still a church but is more than that, too. We have plans to make it something really special.

“But first we need to get emergency repairs done and get the hoardings removed. We are in the process of working  out what it is we can do.”

The Archdeacon of Hampstead, the Ven John Hawkins, said: “On June 12, 2024, the Area Council decided not to proceed with the consultation for the closure of St Mary’s in accordance with established legal procedure, with the parish instead coming together to launch a fundraising campaign in support of this historic Church.”