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St Pancras New Church was built
to serve an ancient parish that developed rapidly in Georgian
times, constructed in 1819 - 22, it is an example of the Greek
Revival style.
The church was built by William
Inwood and his son Henry, and was inspired by Athenian architecture,
the design is based on the Erectheum on the Acropolis in Athens.
The west portico, with its six
Ionic columns and octagonal tower, is copied from the Classical
Greek building, the Tower of the Winds. The body of
the church has two projections at the east angles which are
supported by four draped female figures, or 'caryatids'.
Made of terracotta round and iron spine, the figures were
based on the caryatids at Erectheion, and an original can
be seen in the British
Museum. Originally taller than they are now,
the figures had a middle section taken out so they could fit
under the roof they were intended to support.
The well-preserved late Georgian
interior is long and galleried, with a severity appropriate
to the Greek Revival style. Six giant Ionic columns
of imitation marble form a monumental screen at the apse,
whilst the west gallery, supported by six more Ionic columns,
houses the organ with its Greek Revival case. The box-pews
have survived, as has the high Georgian pulpit, supported
by miniature Ionic columns
Admission free
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