History
It was a Christian place of worship consecrated in 1842
It was designed by Thomas Donaldson, first Professor of Architecture at UCL
It closed as a church in 1909, when its parish united with St Pancras New Church; a memorial commemorating this union can be found in that Church
The building was bought by UCL, who eventually reopened it as a Memorial Hall in 1928
It was bombed in the Second World War and subsequently demolished; part of the site became the Bloomsbury Theatre, and next to this, a new entrance into UCL
Its remains were disturbed again in 2006 when UCL began building a new Institute for Cultural Heritage on the site; see www.ucl.ac.uk/opticon1826 (opens in new window)
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What was reforming about it?
Its location was rather surprising; a correspondent to The Times complained that “Throughout all London, except within the walls of the city, it would be impossible to find a spot where a church is so little needed, where the spiritual wants of the neighbourhood are so fully provided for, or where there is such a total absence of pauper population” (‘A Sincere Churchman’, The Times, 3 November 1841)
Where in Bloomsbury
It was designed by Thomas Donaldson, first Professor of Architecture at UCL
Website of current institution
There is no current or successor institution; the building has been demolished and its function as a parish church is defunct
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Books about it
Survey of London, vol. 21, 1949
Archives
Records from the church (its baptist and marriage registers) are held in London Metropolitan Archives, ref. P90/ALL2, consultable on microfilm only; details are available online via Access to Archives (opens in new window)
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