Saint Augustine's, Kilburn is an Anglican Church in the area of Kilburn, in North London

North London

North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...

, United Kingdom. Because of its large scale and ornate architecture, it is sometimes affectionately referred to as "the Cathedral of North London", although the church is not a cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 in any official sense.

St Augustine's was founded by Richard Carr Kirkpatrick in the Anglo-Catholic tradition in 1870. By 1871, a foundation stone had been laid and the original 'iron church' was subsequently replaced by a much more ambitious form of religious architecture

Religious architecture

Sacred architecture is a religious architectural practice concerned with the design and construction of places of worship and/or sacred or intentional space, such as churches, mosques, stupas, synagogues, and temples...

, a Victorian Gothic church designed by John Loughborough Pearson

John Loughborough Pearson

John Loughborough Pearson was a Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation.-Early life and education:Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 5...

. It is listed as a Grade I building by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

.

Architecture

Pearson's plans called for a red brick structure, vaulted ceilings, and extensive interior stone sculpture in a style reminiscent of 13th century Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

. The church was consecrated in 1880, but the tower

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....

 and spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

, remarkable for such Victorian era structures, were not constructed until 1897-1898. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott

Giles Gilbert Scott

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box....

 designed the reredos

Reredos

thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....

 (altar screens) for the high altar in 1930. He also designed the reredos of the Lady Chapel and the Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...

. In 1878, two years prior to the dedication of the church, contemporary historian Edward Walford had already referred to St. Augustine's, Kilburn as "one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical structures in London." .
The spire measures more than 77 metres high (254 feet). Completed in 1878, the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 measures nine metres (28 feet) wide with nine bays and a crossing

Crossing (architecture)

A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...

 that is bounded by transepts on the north and south sides. The religious art in various forms depicts most of the major biblical stories. Clayton and Bell

Clayton and Bell

Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...

 created the stained glass windows

Stained Glass Windows

Stained Glass Windows was an early broadcast television program, broadcast on early Sunday evenings on the ABC network. The program was a religious broadcast, hosted by the Reverend Everett Parker....

 which includes a large rose window

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

 depicting the Creation

Creation according to Genesis

The Genesis creation narrative describes the divine creation of the world including the first man and woman...

, nine clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

 windows (five depicting types of angels), nave windows depicting Saints connected with England, a window depicting Saint Augustine and several other tall lancet windows. Paintings around the nave depict the healing ministry of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 of Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

. The chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 and sanctuary

Sanctuary

A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

 are surrounded by densely carved sculptural forms depicting the passion

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

, crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

, burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

, and resurrection

Resurrection

Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...

 of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, as well as the apostles, saints and other religious iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

. The south transept leads to St. Michael's Chapel with depictions of the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

, sacrifice, angels and the worship

Worship

Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...

 of Heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

. The Lady Chapel presents frescoes of the Christ child and a later carving of Jesus' presentation in the Temple.
Today=
The church stands prominently to the south of Kilburn and the north of Maida Vale

Maida Vale

Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...

. It is accompanied by two schools of the same name, St Augustine's Primary School and St Augustine's High School. All three are part of the same trust. Regularly pupils and staff make visits to the church, either to pray or to admire the wonderful architecture of the so-called 'cathedral'. The Bishop of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

 has made a visit to the church, gave readings and blessed the church and pupils, symbolising how two schools with people from different religions and backgrounds come together in this act of worship.

Congregational History

Richard Carr Kirkpatrick served as parish priest at Saint Augustine, Kilburn from 1870-1907. He formed the church after his parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 at St. Mary's, Kilburn, where he served as curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

, received an evangelical vicar unsympathetic to the Anglo-Catholic movement (also referred to as the Oxford movement

Oxford Movement

The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...

, "tractarians" or disparagingly as "Puseyites" after one of the founders of the movement, Edward Bouverie Pusey

Edward Bouverie Pusey

Edward Bouverie Pusey was an English churchman and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford. He was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.-Early years:...

. Kirkpatrick was followed in the vicarage by:

• Philip Leary, 1907–1930
• William Percy Theodore Atkinson, 1930–1954
• Harold Riley, 1955–1975
• Claude Eric Hampson, 1975–1977
• Raymond John Avent, 1977–1987
• Paul Tudor Rivers, 1987–1994
• Anthony H. Yates, 1995 – present.