St Pancras New Church: London's First Greek Revival Church by William Inwood

Fatti principali

• St Pancras New Church was designed by architect William Inwood, who won the competition for its construction.
• Completed in 1822, it was the first church in London built in the Greek Revival style.
• The building is constructed of brick but faced with Portland stone.
• The west end follows the Anglican tower-and-portico layout codified by James Gibbs, reinterpreted with classical Greek elements.
• Henry Inwood, son and assistant of William, traveled to Greece after the competition, likely influencing the design.
• The design may have been initially inspired by engravings and John Soane's caryatids at the Bank of England.
• Two caryatid porticoes flank the north and south sides of the apse; the caryatids are hollow with internal iron armatures.
• The octagonal tower is a free interpretation of the Tower of the Winds in Athens (1st century BC).
• The main portico is a hexastyle Ionic design on a three-tiered base, reproducing the east portico of the Erechtheion.
• The London Magazine criticized the church as "the prodigality of bad taste of a pagan temple dedicated to Pancras."