A vicar has said she watched on in horror as a historic church in London was destroyed in a raging fire overnight.
Some 80 firefighters battled the blaze at St Mark’s Church in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood, which had links to author Lewis Carroll and Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold
Vicar Kate Harrison said she was “absolutely heartbroken” as she watched the fire tear through her church.
She told the Standard she was evacuated from her home in the vicerage after the fire broke out.
Fighting tears, she said: “That building has served the Christian community for 175 years it’s our base where we have been reaching out, helping people, loving people. It’s a wonderful beacon of hope and to see it suffer in crushing devastation is completely heartbreaking.”
Emergency services were on the scene from 11.19pm on Thursday until the fire was under control at 2.22am on Friday.
Residents were earlier asked to keep doors and windows closed due to the significant amount of smoke being produced.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said there were no injuries, though it noted the whole two-storey Anglican building was “destroyed”.
A local told BBC News: “I just got my coat on, came outside the front door and just noticed the church next door was just ablaze. It’s terrible, the whole church was on fire - smoke everywhere. It’s extremely sad because it’s a very old church and it’s ruined now.”
The LFB said it used three ladders, including the tallest in Europe at 64 metres, as towers to distribute water evenly and extinguish the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The National Churches Trust had listed St Mark’s as a grade II Victorian church, describing it as an “architectural and historical treasure” which finished construction between 1846 and 1847.
It contained “stunning” mosaics by the Salviati family as well as highly decorative marble flooring in the chancel, with the overall Gothic-styled design the work of architect Thomas Cundy Junior.
It was located near Abbey Road Studios and Lord’s Cricket Ground, and had links to author Lewis Carroll and Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold.
