SAINT PETER, CLERKENWELL SMITHFIELD MARTYRS MEMORIAL CHURCH: SAINT JOHN STREET, ISLINGTON

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 P76/PET1
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: SAINT PETER, CLERKENWELL SMITHFIELD MARTYRS MEMORIAL CHURCH: SAINT JOHN STREET, ISLINGTON
Date(s)	: 1844-1953
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 0.74 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Parish of St Peter, Clerkenwell | Church of England Smithfield Martyrs Memorial Church | Church of England

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The church of Saint Peter in Clerkenwell was also known as Smithfield Martyrs Mission Church. The church occupied the site of Northampton House, the town house of the Marquesses of Northampton until the early 1700s. After becoming a madhouse and later a school, the house was demolished in 1869 to make way for the very large church of Saint Peter. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Shaftesbury and the church was consecrated in 1871. It was designed by E.L. Blackburne, and was built of stock brick with Bath stone dressing and doorways of Lancaster stone. The church commemorated the religious martyrs burnt at Smithfield, and the west front had a frieze of 17 statues of the English Protestant Martyrs while inside the church were wall tablets listing 66 English martyrs. The building suffered severe bomb damage in 1940, in November 1955 the parish was united with Saint James and Saint John, Clerkenwell, and the building was demolished in 1957. It was described by Pevsner in Buildings of England as 'quite uncommonly ugly'.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of Saint Peter's, Clerkenwell, also known as the Smithfield Martyrs Memorial Church, including registers of baptisms; registers of marriages; Churchwarden's vouchers; papers relating to the church organ; deeds and leases.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

P76/PET1/001-013: Parish Registers; P76/PET1/014-030: Other Parish Records.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright for these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records deposited in June 1958.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
March to April 2010.