St John's Wood: Fire brigade says cause of church fire undetermined

The cause of a fire that destroyed a Grade II*-listed church is 'undetermined', London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said.

Eighty firefighters tackled the blaze at St Mark's church in St John's Wood on 27 January.

The blaze ripped through the two-storey building and the roof of the Victorian church caved in. No-one was injured.

LFB says it has recorded an undetermined cause "due to the unsafe structure of the building".

Witnesses said the roof of the church caved in during the blaze

The comes after the vicar of the church, the Reverend Kate Harrison, told the BBC forensic fire investigators had warned her the cause of the fire might never be identified.

The National Churches Trust has described St Mark's, in the City of Westminster, as an "architectural and historical treasure".

The building, which is more than 170 years old, has links to author Lewis Carroll and Queen Victoria's son Prince Leopold and is near Abbey Road Studios and Lord's cricket ground.

A history of St Mark's church

• Built in 1846 to replace a small temporary building which had been set up to cater for the expanding population of St John's Wood

• Survived being hit by an enemy bomb in 1941 during World War Two, with work to rebuild its spire being completed in 1955

• The interior features several memorials including one commemorating the tragedy of the Herald of Free Enterprise, a cross channel ferry which capsized off Zeebrugge in 1987

• The floor and walls are decorated with ornate mosaics including multicoloured and gold depictions of Bible passages

• Robinson Duckworth was appointed vicar of St Mark's in 1870 after spending four years as Prince Leopold's tutor. Prince Leopold also laid the church's foundation stone when it was built

• Duckworth was immortalised as the duck in the jury box in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was in the boat when the writer first told his famous story

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