Inventory Site Record

St Katharine's Precinct was built in 1826-8 and was originally the Royal Hospital of St Katharine, founded in 1148 by Queen Matilda and later known as the Hospital of St Katharine. It occupied a site near the Tower of London before moving to Regent's Park, where a new Chapel together with other collegiate buildings were built. The Foundation moved back to East London in 1948, and St Katharine's College Chapel was granted to the Danish community in London for its Lutheran Church. There is landscaping in front of the chapel, with trees and shrubs, and an area of lawn containing the stone monument surrounded by gravel driveway. Further garden areas to east

Previous / Other name:

Danish Lutheran Church

Site location:

Outer Circle, Regent's Park

Postcode:

NW1 4HH

What 3 Words:

jams.aura.drift

Type of site:

Housing/Estate Landscaping

Borough:

Camden

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

private, but publicly accessible

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Rail/London Overground/Tube(Northern/Victoria):Euston.Tube:Camden Town (Northern), Great Portland St, Euston Sq (Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Circle), Regent's Park (Bakerloo)

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Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/07/2002

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.cepc.org.uk

St Katharine's Precinct was built in the 1820s. The Chapel was originally built for the Royal Hospital of St Katharine, a religious hospice founded in 1148 by Queen Matilda and later known as the Hospital of St Katharine, originally occupying a site near the Tower of London. In 1825 that site was required for the building of St Katharine's Dock and the hospice moved to Regent's Park, where a new Chapel together with other collegiate buildings were designed in 1826-1828 by Ambrose Poynter. St Katharine's College Chapel was granted to the Danish community in London for its Lutheran Church by Queen Alexandra, the Danish wife of Edward VII, the patronage of the chapel having always rested with the Queen of England. Inside the church are two late C17th figures of Moses and John the Baptist by Caius Cibber, which were brought from the former Danish Seamen's Mission in Wellclose Square, Commercial Road in East London. In c.1950 a number of the church fittings and monuments were removed to the Tower of London and St Katharine's Foundation, which had moved back to Butcher's Row, East London in 1948. The chapel was restored in 1969.

Unlike the surrounding terraces of Outer Circle, the buildings within St Katharine's Precinct are predominantly grey brick with stone dressings. Flanking the Chapel are the Pastor's House and St Katharine's Hall and other collegiate buildings of the Royal Hospital of St Katharine, which are now private houses. Nos. 1-3 and 6-8 are linked to the chapel, the Pastor's House and St Katharine's Hall by an arcaded screen wall. The frontage of the Precinct onto the Outer Circle has cast-iron railings with box gate piers and lamp posts that date from c.1828, as does the stone monument in front of the chapel, a sculpted column on a hexagonal stepped base surrounded by cast-iron rail within an area of grass. In the grounds is a replica of the Jelling Stone, a runic monument set up at Jelling in Denmark by King Harald Bluetooth, who reigned from 940-985. It commemorated his parents and the country's conversion to Christianity.

Sources consulted:

Camden Listed Buildings website; Survey of London: Vol. XIX, Old St Pancras and Kentish Town, St Pancras II: London: -1938: 101-115; Peter Woodford (ed.) 'From Primrose Hill to Euston Road' (Camden History Society, 1995 ed); Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England London 3: North West' (Penguin, 1999 ed)

Grid ref:

TQ286832 (528630,183270)

Size in hectares:

0.1272

Site ownership:

The Crown Estate

Site management:

Crown Estate Paving Commission

Date(s):

1826-28

Designer(s):

Ambrose Poynter (buildings)

Listed structures:

LBII*: The Danish Church; Nos.1-3 and 6-9 (Consecutive) and attached railings; The Pastor's House (No 4), St Katharine's Hall (No 5) and attached screen walls. LBII: Forecourt railings and lamps; monument in courtyard

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Regent's Park

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Yes - Area of Special Character: Central London Area

Other LA designation:

Private Open Space. Strategic View Corridor