IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 O/527
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: PENTONVILLE CHAPEL, SAINT JAMES, CLERKENWELL AND BAGNIGGE WELLS TAVERN
Date(s): 1790-1858
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 0.01 linear metres.
Name of creator(s): Various.
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Saint Mary's Nunnery of Augustinian canonesses, founded in 1140, was dissolved in 1539 and the church converted to the parish church of Clerkenwell, dedicated to St James. In the 1780s the building was declared ruinous and demolished. The present church was built 1788-92 by the architect James Carr, on the site of the choir of the mediaeval nunnery.
Pentonville was laid out as a planned development on land belonging to Henry Penton. The developers provided a church, constructed from 1787, but the parish of Clerkenwell refused responsibility for it. However, when the parish trustees required funds to rebuild St James's in 1788, they purchased the new church in return for a loan to their building fund. The Pentonville church thereafter operated as a chapel of ease to the parish church.
Bagnigge House was situated off King's Cross Road, Clerkenwell. Bagnigge Wells was established as a popular spa resort in 1758 when the owner of the House, Thomas Hughes, found that water from his well was a good purgative. He opened his gardens to the public, charging 3d to taste the waters, and adding entertainments, tea rooms, flower gardens, fish ponds and benches beside the Fleet River, which flowed through the garden. Concerts and entertainments were held in the pump rooms. The Wells were a fashionable retreat until the beginning of the 19th century; by 1810 they were the resort of 'lower class tradesmen' (Lysons). The Wells were closed in 1841 and the site was built over.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Bonds relating to interest on loans for building the new church of St James and Pentonville Chapel; and notice by Martin Saint Leger of Bagnigge Wells Tavern of his intention to apply for a music and dancing licence.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
O/527/001-005.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for general access although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Bonds and notice
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Records from Survey of London section; original provenance unknown.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
See P76/JS1 for the records of the parish of St James. See P76/JS2 for records of the Pentonville Chapel, later the parish church of St James, Pentonville.
Publication note:
For further information see: London's Churches (E & W. Young) LMA Library reference 59.1 YOU, History of Clerkenwell (Pinks) LMA Library reference 74.21 CLE, Clerkenwell and Saint Lukes (Mitton) LMA Library reference 74.2 MIT, and Clerkenwell and Finsbury Past (Tames) LMA Library reference 74.2 TAM.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note:
Date(s) of descriptions: Records prepared May to September 2011.