St Luke's Church, Kentish Town facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Luke's Kentish Town
St Luke's Kentish Town
The nave and tower of St Luke's Kentish Town
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OS grid reference	TQ 295 850
Location	Kentish Town, London NW5 2AT
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
History
Founded	1867
Dedication	Saint Luke
Dedicated	1867
Consecrated	1869
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	10 June 1954
Architect(s)	Basil Champneys HMDW Architects
Architectural type	Church
Style	Victorian
Groundbreaking	1867
Completed	1869
Specifications
Spire height	40 metres (131.2 ft)
Materials	Red brick with stone dressings, red tile roof

St Luke's Kentish Town is a church in North London. It belongs to the Church of England. The church is on Oseney Crescent in Kentish Town. It was closed for many years, from 1991 to 2011. Now, it is open again and is a lively place of worship. The building is very special. It has a Grade II* listed status. This means it is an important historic building.

History

Building a New Church

St Luke's Kentish Town was built a long time ago. Construction happened between 1867 and 1869. The money for the church came from an interesting source. A railway company paid £12,500. This was compensation because they tore down an older church. That church was called St Luke's Church, Euston Road.

An architect named John Johnson had built the old church. He hoped to design the new one. But he was not chosen for the job. Instead, a young architect named Basil Champneys was picked. He was only 25 years old. This was one of his very first buildings. His father, William Weldon Champneys, was a vicar. He was the one who asked Basil to design the church.

Art and Music Inside

The church has beautiful stained glass windows. The three windows in the east were designed by Henry Holiday. They were made by a company called Heaton, Butler and Bayne. This same company made other windows later. These include the aisle windows from around 1880-1890. They show the twelve apostles. They also made the large west window in 1891.

In 1893, a Willis organ was put into the church. Organs are large musical instruments. Later, in 1910, four more stained glass windows were added. These were made by Morris & Co.. Two of them were designed by Edward Burne-Jones. The other two were by John Henry Dearle.

A special decorated screen, called a reredos, was added in the 1930s. The church also has a brass eagle lectern. This is a stand for reading the Bible. It dates back to 1882. It originally came from another church, St Paul's, which was damaged in a war.

Reopening the Church

St Luke's church closed its doors in 1991. It was then looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. This group helps to preserve old churches.

In 2011, the church was able to reopen. A new priest, Reverend Jonathan March, was appointed. Renovation work was finished in January 2012. Church services started again on January 29, 2012.

Architecture

Outside the Church

The outside of St Luke's church is mostly made of red brick. It has stone details and a red tile roof. The tower has a special roof shape. It is called a saddleback gabled roof. This style is similar to buildings in North Germany. The tower has three arched openings for the belfry.

The main part of the church, called the nave, has four sections. It has narrow aisles on the sides. The chancel is the area around the altar. It is located under the tower. It has a rounded end with decorative stone patterns. The west end of the church has three tall, narrow windows. Above them is a round window with stone patterns. The aisles and the upper windows, called the clerestory, have pointed windows in pairs.

Inside the Church

Inside, the walls are also made of red brick. They have two bands of stone running across them. The nave has low, round pillars. These pillars support the arches. Between the arches are shafts that hold up the roof timbers. The floor is covered with red and black tiles.

From the central area, you go up three steps to the chancel. The chancel has a brick-vaulted ceiling. Then, there are six more steps up to the sanctuary. This is the most sacred part of the church. It has decorative tiles and special seats for the clergy, called sedilia.

Gallery

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  Vaulting of the chancel, featuring the Christmas opening service lighting, 18th Dec 2011

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  Facing east in the nave; the font in the foreground

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  Facing west in the nave

See also

• HTB network