Belsize beauty

History leaves its mark on every corner of London. About 15 minutes walk from home is a wonderful old Victorian church called St Stephen's. It sits at the corner of a busy intersection looking dilapidated and clearly abandoned. The external walls are pitted and worn. Windows are cracked and boarded. The boundary fence has a large sagging billboard soliciting donations for its restoration. St Stephen's has seen better days.

It's a wonderful old building. One of its most fascinating features is a circular gothic turret that juts from the bell tower's southwest corner. I can only conclude that this was a popular architectural flourish in the Victorian era. It appears on many houses in our neighbourhood that were built around the same period. While perhaps fashionable back then, it does seem rather out of place on a classic church facade.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet I've discovered much about St Stephen's past. It was built in 1866-69 with room enough to seat 1200 worshippers. However, the building's capacity was never regularly achieved. At its peak, around 1886, a congregation of no more than 760 attended one of two services every Sunday.

Unfortunately, St Stephen's location on a sloping section effectively doomed it from the moment it opened. The building experienced subsidence in 1896, 1898, 1901 and again in 1969 when the neighbouring hospital complex was built. This final subsidence was significant, creating serious cracks. The cost of repairs effectively sealed St Stephen's fate and by 1977 the site was abandoned.

However, the building's true beauty is hidden. It's interior is spectacular. For a humble local church, St Stephen's has been aptly described as "one of the most moving Victorian interiors." The following photos of the interior show you what I mean. It' was no surprise to learn that the final construction cost was three times the original estimate. When you look at these photos you can also appreciate why a trust was created to fund and manage it restoration.

London is full of secrets like this and our neighbourhood is no exception.