Editing St Pancras, London (section)

==History==
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===St Pancras Old Church===
{{Further|St Pancras Old Church}}
St Pancras Old Church lies on Pancras Road, [[Somers Town, London|Somers Town]], behind [[St Pancras railway station]]. Until the 19th century it stood on a knoll on the eastern bank of the now buried [[River Fleet]].
[[File:St Pancras Old Church - geograph.org.uk - 757784.jpg|thumb|St Pancras Old Church]]
The church, dedicated to the Roman martyr [[Pancras of Rome|Saint Pancras]], gave its name to the St Pancras district, which originated as the parish served by the church. The church is reputed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England; however, as is so often with old church sites, it is hard to find documentary or archaeological evidence for its initial foundation.

One tradition asserts that the church was established in AD 314 in the late Roman period. There is little to support that view, but it is notable that to the south of the church was a site called ''The Brill'', believed at the time to have been a Roman Camp. ''The Brill'' was destroyed during the urbanisation of the area, without any archaeological excavation to assess its age and purpose. The church is certainly very old; it was mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, and there is evidence to suggest it predated Domesday by several centuries.

A [[chapel of ease]] was subsequently established at Kentish Town to supplement the main parish church, which was replaced by a new building in 1822, [[St Pancras New Church]] on the south side of [[Euston Road]]. The then-dilapidated Old Church continued in use but was reduced to the status of a [[chapel of ease]]. Most of the fabric of the Old Church building dates from a subsequent Victorian restoration.

===Ancient parish===
[[File:St Pancras Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|The wards of the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras in 1916]]
The [[Civil Parish#Ancient parishes|ancient parish]] of St Pancras (also known as Pancrace or Pancridge<ref name="Chalfant20082">Chalfant, pp. 136–</ref>) was established in the medieval period to serve five manors: two manors named St Pancras (one prebendal, one lay), [[Kentish Town|Cantlowes (Kentish Town)]], [[Tottenham Court Road#Manor of Tottenham Court|Tottenham Court]] and [[Chalk Farm|Rugmere (Chalk Farm)]].<ref>{{cite web|title='Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 19, the Parish of St Pancras Part 2: Old St Pancras and Kentish Town|first1=Percy|last1= Lovell |first2= William McB. |last2=Marcham |location=London|year=1938|pages= 1–31|publisher=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol19/pt2/pp1-31 |access-date= 13 April 2021}}</ref>

[[File:LONDON, MARYLEBONE by BARTLETT, F.A. and B.J. DAVIES.jpg|260px|thumb|The [[Civil Parish#Ancient parishes|ancient parishes]] of – west to east – [[Paddington]] and [[Marylebone|St Marylebone]] (in the modern [[City of Westminster]]), and St Pancras (in the modern [[London Borough of Camden]]) in 1834]]

By the end of the nineteenth century, the ancient parish had been divided into 37 ecclesiastical parishes, including one for the old church, to better serve a rapidly growing population. There are currently 17 [[Church of England]] parishes completely contained within the boundaries of the ancient parish, all of which benefit from the distributions from the [[St Pancras Lands Trust]] and most of which are in South Camden Deanery in the [[Bishop of Edmonton (London)|Edmonton Area]] of the [[Diocese of London]].

===Pre-urban period===
In the Middle Ages it had "disreputable associations",<ref name="Chalfant20082"/> and by the seventeenth century had become the "'[[Gretna Green]]' of the London area".<ref name="Chalfant20082" />  On that account [[English Renaissance theatre|Elizabethan playwright]] [[Ben Jonson]] alludes to the area frequently in his plays.<ref name="Chalfant20082" />{{efn|This is the foundation for the expression "[[Pancridge Parson]]", i.e. a minister who will "perform suden or irregular marriages".<ref name="Chalfant20082"/>|group=}}  It was a rural area with a dispersed population until the growth of London in the late eighteenth century.

===Urbanisation===
In the 1790s [[Earl Camden]] began to develop some fields to the north and west of the old church as [[Camden Town]].<ref>Richardson.</ref> About the same time, a residential district was built to the south and east of the church, usually known as [[Somers Town, London|Somers Town]]. In 1822 the [[St Pancras New Church|new church of St Pancras]] was dedicated as the [[parish church]]. The site was chosen on what was then called the New Road (now [[Euston Road]]) which had been built as London's first bypass, the [[M25 motorway|M25]] of its day. The two sites are about a kilometre apart. The new church is [[Grade I listed]] for its [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival style]]; the old church [[Victorian restoration|was rebuilt]] in 1847. In the mid-19th century two major railway stations were built to the south of the Old Church, first [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]] and later [[St Pancras railway station|St Pancras]]. The new church is closer to [[Euston railway station|Euston station]].

===Metropolitan borough===
[[File:Camden Town Hall 2005.jpg|thumb|left|[[Camden Town Hall|St Pancras Town Hall]]]]
The parish of St Pancras was administered by a [[vestry]] until the [[Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras]] was established in 1900. In 1965 the borough was combined with two others to form the [[London Borough of Camden]].

In the 1950s, St Pancras Council gained a reputation for left-wing radicalism and was referred to as "the most freakish borough in London.”<ref>Mathieson, p. 86.</ref>  The council refused to take part in [[civil defence]] preparations for war which local councils were obliged to provide.<ref>Mathieson, p. 110.</ref>  The Home Office monitored Mayor [[John Lawrence (political activist)|John Lawrence]], and as of 2016, still refuses Freedom of Information requests related to him on the grounds of protecting national security.<ref>Mathieson, p. 215.</ref>

Housing was in [[excess demand]] after the damage and disruption of the [[Second World War]]. There was strong opposition to the [[History of rent control in England and Wales#Decontrol 1957 to 1965|1957 Rent Act]], which led to a series of decisions that caused serious financial difficulty. John Lawrence and several other councillors were expelled from the Labour Party in 1958 but continued to serve as Independent Socialists.<ref>Mathieson, p. 154.</ref>  The Conservative Party won the 1958 council election.<ref>Mathieson, p. 158.</ref>

In 1960, a widespread rent strike in the district led to rioting in September.<ref>Mathieson, p. 180.</ref>

===St Pancras battalions===
{{see also|19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras)}}
{{see also|16th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade (St Pancras)}}
From 1859 to 1955, the St Pancras produced dedicated military units for the British Army, initially infantry battalions and later anti-aircraft and searchlight regiments. A high proportion of the recruits were drawn from working-class districts of St Pancras, such as [[Camden Town]].

At the start of World War I, the [[19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras)|St Pancras Battalion]] was part of the [[London Regiment (1908–1938)|London Regiment]] and known as 19th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (St Pancras). The increase in wartime recruitment led to it being split into two battalions (each around a thousand strong), the 1/19th and 2/19th, with the 3/19th established as a training battalion.<ref name =JamesLond>James, pp. 114–6.</ref>

These three St Pancras battalions were joined by a fourth, a [[Pals battalion]], which joined a different regiment, the [[Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)]], as the [[16th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade (St Pancras)]]. It also established a training battalion, the [[17th (Reserve) Battalion, Rifle Brigade |17th (Reserve) Battalion]], which spent most of the war on [[Wimbledon Common]].<ref name = JamesRifle>James, p. 111.</ref>

During World War I these three front line battalions were deployed:
* The 1/19th Londons were attached to the 141st (5th London) Brigade, in the [[47th (1/2nd London) Division]] serving on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name =JamesLond/>
* The 2/19th Londons, known as ''Christie’s Minstrels'', after their commander and prowess singing while on the march. This battalion was attached to the [[180th (2/5th London) Brigade]] in [[60th (2/2nd London) Division]], seeing action on the Western front before being moved to the Mediterranean and fighting on the [[Macedonian front]] and in the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]].<ref name =JamesLond/>
* The 16th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade, or ''St Pancras Pals'', joined the [[117th Brigade (United Kingdom)|117th Brigade]], part of the [[39th Division (United Kingdom)|39th Division]].<ref name = JamesRifle/> That division served on the Western Front, with [[William Burman|Sergeant Burman]] winning a [[Victoria Cross]] in 1917.<ref>{{cite web|title=IWM record of the medal |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30006584}}</ref> In 1918 the whole Division came close to destruction in the [[Battle of the Lys (1918)|Battle of the Lys]].