The destruction by hearth of a Grade II* listed church in north-west London has “devastated” the neighborhood, a neighborhood councillor has mentioned.
Talking exterior St Mark’s Church in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wooden, Amanda Langford informed the PA information company the church was a “focus” for folks and had been a supply of help in the course of the pandemic.
She mentioned: “St Mark’s church was 175 years outdated and contained a lot historical past. It’s a focus for our ward.
“The church was an enormous help to our neighborhood in the course of the pandemic and has continued to be ever since. That is such a terrific loss.
“The reverend is completely devastated by this catastrophe, however the very first thing she did this morning was converse to the native college to discover a place for folks to proceed utilizing and to worship in.
“She and her household have finished so many implausible issues for our neighborhood.”
Writing on Twitter, Rev Kate Harrison mentioned she was “damaged” by the hearth on the church, the place she has been vicar since 2015.
Some 80 firefighters tackled the blaze in Hamilton Terrace from 11.19pm on Thursday till it was beneath management at 2.22am on Friday, and firefighters had been nonetheless working to place out embers and make the positioning secure.
The London Fireplace Brigade mentioned it had to make use of three ladders, together with the tallest in Europe at 64 metres, to distribute water evenly and extinguish the flames.
There have been no accidents, however LFB mentioned that the constructing has been destroyed.
Louise Radley, who lives close to the church, mentioned she watched the constructing burn.
“The smoke and the hearth was horrendous, it began off small and grew till it was uncontrolled.
“The harm to the church is horrendous, however we’re fortunate that issues weren’t worse because the timber exterior of the church may have caught hearth and put lives at risk.
“The firefighters had been glorious and ought to be counseled for his or her bravery, I’ve to say an enormous thanks to them.”
Yemisi Wada, who has attended companies there for 5 years, informed PA: “The church is a part of a really shut neighborhood of native folks.
“It’s going to be very robust for us all, who want to seek out someplace we belong to and really feel secure to worship in – it isn’t so simple as simply discovering one other church to attend.”
Firefighters on the scene mentioned the reason for the hearth was most likely {an electrical} fault, however London Fireplace Brigade mentioned it was nonetheless beneath investigation.
St Mark’s church was designed by Thomas Cundy Jr, who labored on many church buildings in west London together with Holy Trinity Paddington, St Paul’s, Knightsbridge and St Barnabas’s.
It was beforehand broken in the course of the Second World Struggle when it was hit by an enemy bomb, and its spire needed to be rebuilt.
