St Saviour
Finsbury Park, Greater London
St Saviour’s opened in 1879, in a temporary building known as a ‘Tin Tabernacle’ to serve the growing community of Crouch Hill and Finsbury Park, following the arrival of the railway.
We welcome visitors to look round and enjoy the beautiful church which is usually open during the day. The current building, designed by architect Randall Morris and dating from 1959, replaced an earlier St George’s from 1907, on the site now occupied by Hornsey Fire Station which was partly destroyed during WWII.
Since St George’s parish was reunited with that of the ancient parish of St. Mary’s, Hornsey, in 1981, the church has become known as Hornsey Parish Church (HPC). Both externally and internally it is a blend of modern and traditional styles with unusual parabolic arches a feature of the main door, windows and interior columns supporting the roof. The chancel is at the geographical north of the church; this was determined by the site which could not accommodate a church with the traditional alignment.
A large south facing window floods the spacious interior with light emphasising the beauty of the white oak pews and pulpits, and parquet flooring. The internal layout is quite conventional with a nave, chancel, aisles and a shallow transept on the western side. Due to the history of the parish, which includes two previous churches on other sites, there are various artefacts from the old churches. These include a perpendicular font of c1500; broken into pieces during wartime bombing it was carefully reassembled and continues in use.
The most important monument from the old church preserved at HPC is a large alabaster floor slab to George Rey of c1599 (another monument, an exuberant baroque monument to Francis Musters, c1680, is on display at the V&A). Other stone and brass monuments to former rectors and others are arranged around the church awaiting a permanent home; we hope to provide this as part of our hall redevelopment plans.
Other items of historical interest include a credence table and iron chest; there is a handsome 1920s altarpiece the focal point of the Middlesex Memorial Chapel in the transept. A beautiful modern work is the pyx, containing the reserved Sacrament, which hangs above the main altar.