Church of the Week
Somers Town, Greater London
St Mary's in Somers Town, London, our Church of the Week, is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register. The poor condition of the building means that parts of the frontage and tower are at risk of collapsing. For 200 years, this church has been a remarkable site of social justice, especially during the 1920s and 1930s with the work of Fr Basil Jellicoe and the Magdalen Mission, who spearheaded a movement to level the slums in Somers Town and build decent homes for all. Today, the church hosts and runs many different community groups, and the team there are keen to do even more once the building is in better condition – including reopening their winter shelter. The team at St Mary’s have been fundraising for many years to undertake vital repairs. Thankfully, help is at hand. St Mary church has been awarded a £25,000 grant from the National Churches Trust. “With the incredible generosity of National Churches Trust, we will be able to finish a Phase One set of works which will bring the external scaffolding down, reducing our annual bill by over £70,000 which would have forced us to close,” explains Father Paschal Worton, Parish Priest at St Mary’s Somers Town.
View Somers Town St Mary the Virgin