Description
This was the site of the medieval church of St Pancras Soper Lane, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, after which the parish joined that of St Mary Le Bow. Land had been granted for St Pancras Churchyard in 1379 and it was used as a burial ground until the C19th. It was converted into a garden post WWII and the small site is surrounded on three sides by buildings and has a few trees, but no evidence of gravestones. The front boundary wall has a plaque recording the site of St Pancras church.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | St Pancras Soper Lane |
|---|---|
| Site location | Pancras Lane |
| Postcode | EC4 |
| What3Words | ///sends.regard.grow |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | City of London |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | locked but visible |
| Public Transport | Tube: Bank (Central, DLR, Northern, Waterloo & City) / Monument (Circle, District) |
| Research Updated | 1 May 2010 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Burial ground of the former church of St Pancras Soper Lane which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, after which the parish joined that of St Mary-le-Bow (q.v.). The medieval parish of St Pancras Soper Lane lay to the south of Cheapside, largely to the east of what was later laid out in the early C13th as a medieval street called Soper Lane, now formed as Queen Street. Soper Lane ran north-south, its southern boundary Watling Street. A small part of the parish extended west of Queen Street but it was mainly eastwards, meeting Bucklersbury at its north-eastern corner and extending south-east almost as far as what is now Queen Victoria Street. In 1963 excavations revealed the medieval church had a nave of c.6metres in width and a C12th chancel. Land was granted for a churchyard in 1379 and was used as a burial ground until the C19th. The site is surrounded on three sides by buildings and is largely gravelled with a few trees, no evidence of gravestones, surrounded by low concrete rendered wall into which is set a plaque recording the site of St Pancras church. Also in Pancras Lane was the burial ground of St Benet Sherehog until the 1930s, the church destroyed in 1666 and the parish united with that of St Stephen Walbrook but burials continued.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ324810 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.021 |
| Site Ownership | Diocese of London |
| Site Management | Diocese of London |
| Dates | Medieval origin |
| Listed Structures | SAM: remains of St Pancras Church |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | City of London |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Strategic View - Consultation Area |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
St Mary Aldermary is an early church, described by John Stow as 'older than any church of St Mary in the Citie' and Aldermary (the elder Mary) may reflect this. Various additions to the building took place over the years, including partial rebuilding in 1510/11 at the behest of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Henry Keble. In 1534 one of its rectors, Henry Gold, was executed for his involvement with the 'Holy Maid of Kent'. John Milton married his third wife here in 1662. Damaged in the Great Fire of 1666, the church was rebuilt by Christopher Wren. The former churchyard is now laid out as a small garden with a central tree, three headstones set against the wall among shrubbery and gravestones form a path leading to the west entrance of the church.
St Olave's House is the tower of the church of St Olave Jewry, its former churchyard now a secluded railed garden. Among those buried here were Thomas Morsted, surgeon to Henry IV, V and VI and one-time Sheriff of London, and Giles Dewes, clerk of the libraries of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Following the Great Fire of 1666, the medieval church was replaced by a Wren church, itself demolished in 1892 apart from the tower, which was converted for the rectory for St Margaret Lothbury. The garden has been open to the public since the 1890s and St Olave's House is leased as offices to solicitors.
The raised forecourt of Nos. 27 and 28 Queen Street, a pair of fine C18th private houses now used by Gresham Computing Personnel, is on part of the site of the former burial ground of the church of St Thomas-the-Apostle. The church was first recorded in 1170, rebuilt in 1371 but destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt. The churchyard remained until 1851 when Queen Street was widened and remains were interred in a vault on the east side. The paved forecourt, accessed by a flight of steps each side, has a large plane tree and shrubbery; a stone plaque relating to the site is set into the front wall.
