St Pancras was martyred in 304, and the legendary founding of the church was not long after in 314. For well over 1000 years, St Pancras Old Church has stood as a place of worship in North London.
The area where St Pancras stands is recorded in the Domeday Book: “At S. Pancras, Walter, a Canon of S. Paul’s holds one hide. There is a plough there, and twenty four men who render thirty shillings yearly. The land lay and lies in the demesne of S. Paul’s.”
During 19th-century restorations, the workers discovered an altar stone which has been dated to the 12th century, and now sits in the centre of St Pancras's high altar.
A grant written c. 1160-80 gives lands to the church and parish of St Pancras.
The first recorded vicar was Fulcherius, who was made vicar in 1181 with the annual pension of 2 shillings
de Belmeis grants "his church of St Pancras" to St Paul's.
A visitation is made of the church, in which 36 houses are recorded in the parish, besides a number of manor houses, and the vicar's residence.
This record gives the fabric of the building, recording three altars and various statues. It also states that the buildings of the parish are in disrepair, and that the vicar receives very little in tithes.
The church's piscina dates from the late 13th century and the sedile from the 14th century.
By the middle of the fifteenth century, the River Fleet was making it difficult to access the church for the growing number of parishioners, and other churches and chapels were built in the area.
Somehow, St Pancras Church managed to not only survive the violence of the Reformation, but was reportedly one of the last churches in London to continue the Roman mass. Some believe this is because Elizabeth I had a soft spot for the church, perhaps because her cook was a parishioner there.
