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2
Report by Dr. Hamer on the sanitary condition and administration of the Parish of
St. Pancras.
The parish of St. Pancras comprises the strip of ground some 3j miles long and about 1 mile
broad, which extends from the county boundary to that portion of central London which is formed by
the St. Giles and Holborn sanitary districts. To the north of St. Pancras are the urban sanitary
districts of Hornsey and Finchley, which are situated outside London, to the west are Hampstead and
Marylebone, to the east Islington and Clerkenwell and adjoining the southern boundary are the
sanitary districts of Holborn and St. Giles already referred to.
The parish boundaries are conterminous with those of the sanitary district, of the St. Pancras
registration district and of the parliamentary borough of St. Pancras. The registration district includes
the sub-districts of Regent's-park, Tottenham-court, Gray's-inn-lane, Somers-town, Camden-town and
Kentish-town. The parliamentary borough of St. Pancras is subdivided into four divisions, north,
south, east and west. The northern division is the most outlying part of the parish and includes the
high ground on a portion of the southern slope of Highgate-hill, and that to the east of Hampsteadheath.
South of this division East and West St. Pancras extend side by side as far as the Eustonroad,
separated one from another by the thoroughfare known in various parts of its course as Kentishtown-road,
High-street Camden-town, Eversholt-street and Seymour-street. South of the Eustonroad
is the smallest of the four divisions, that known as South St. Pancras.
The high ground on the northern boundary of the parish varies in elevation between rather less
than 350 and a little more than 400 feet above Ordnance datum. Here situated within St. Pancras is
a portion of the Bagshot sand which caps the top of Highgate-hill and a smaller strip of the corresponding
deposit on the high ground at Hampstead. With these and the further exception of a small
patch of brick earth which exists in the neighbourhood of York-terrace, York-road, the London clay
lies superficially throughout the whole of that portion of the parish which extends from the northern
boundary to a line running east and west from the neighbourhood of Drummond-street to that of
Mecklenburg-square. In the comparatively small part of St. Pancras to the south of this line there is
a superficial deposit of gravel covering the London clay.
The general lie of the ground will be best appreciated by reference to the fact that the parish
corresponds broadly speaking with the northern part of what was formerly the basin of the stream
known as the Holebourne, Turnmill brook, River of Wells or Fleet. The Fleet brook took origin in
in the high ground of Hampstead-heath and flowing past what is now Fleet-road made its way towards
Kentish-town where it was joined by a considerable tributary having its source in Caen-wood and
draining the northern part of St. Pancras parish. The Fleet "wandered through Kentish-town and
Camden-town onward to the old church," following a course which may be roughly indicated as
corresponding to the present Kentish-town-road and King's-road, then passing between what are now
the sites of the Great Northern and Midland stations, and leaving St. Pancras at the south-eastern
extremity of the parish to pursue its course to Old Borne (Holborn) bridge and to finally reach the
river at Blackfriars. The heights above Ordnance datum, at some of the points in the neighbourhood
of the original stream are as follows—at Caen-wood upwards of 300 feet, at the top of Parliament-hill
(which lay between and overlooked the main stream and its tributary above referred to) 319 feet, at the
northern end of Kentish-town-road 121 feet, near the lower end of King's-road 66 feet, while at the
south-eastern extremity of the parish some of the heights marked are only 50 or 51 feet above ordnance
datum. The south-eastern portion is the least elevated portion of St. Pancras; the south-western portion
is at slightly greater altitude, 93 and 85 feet being the readings above datum at the upper and lower
ends of Tottenham-court-road.
The total area of St. Pancras is 2,672 acres, this superficial extent being exceeded by nine
only of the other sanitary districts of London. In respect of population St. Pancras stands fourth on
the list of London'districts, and the density of population is 90 to the acre as compared with 212 in the
small district of St. George-the-Martyr, Southwark and six per acre in Lee, these being the most and
least densely populated London sanitary areas.
Near the north-western corner of St. Pancras is situated Parliament-hill-fields, an open space
under the Council's control which is 267 £ acres in extent. Again, at the north-eastern corner of the
parish is W aterlow-park, 29 acres in extent. The northern extremity of St. Pancras is thus liberally
endowed with open space, and Primrose-hill and Regent's-park abut upon and are partly included
within its western borders.* In the eastern and southern divisions, the land is almost entirely built
over, the only areas of any considerable size not covered with streets and houses being the large railway
depots in the former division. Moreover, the space originally left about houses has been considerably
encroached upon for the purpose of erecting new houses, workshops or other buildings within comparatively
recent years, and at the present time this process, unfortunately, continues in active operation.
A study of the map of "London and the suburbs," given in Loftie's "History of London,"
shows that the great majority of the houses in St. Pancras have come into existence since the year
* In Loftie's " History of London,'' in connection with the subject of open space, reference is made to ths history of the Middlesex
manors belonging to the prebends of St. Paul's, all of which are situated to the north or north-west of the city. It is pointed out that
the parks of London were originally church or abbey lands which had been seized by the Crown and converted to their present use.
"In those parts of London," it is stated, "where the church lands remained to the church, no parka were made. St. Paul's, in name at
least, still holds St. Giles' and St. George's; Gray's-inn and Tottenham-court are prebendal manors, as are Camden-town and Somerstown,
and other over-populous districts with changed names. They were not alienated by King Henry, but by their ecclesiastical
owners."