All Hallows-by-the-Tower, at one time dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and

the Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...

and sometimes known as All Hallows Barking, is an ancient Anglican church on Byward Street in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, overlooking the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. According to the church website and other sources it is "the oldest church in the City of London" and was founded in AD 675, although recent research has questioned these claims. The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666, but was badly damaged during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Following extensive reconstruction, it was rededicated in 1957. From 1922 until 1962 the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

was the Reverend Philip T. B. "Tubby" Clayton, and the church is still the guild church of

Toc H Toc H (also TH) is an international Christian movement. The name is an abbreviation for Talbot House, "Toc" signifying the letter T in the signals spelling alphabet used by the British Army in World War I. A soldiers' rest and recreation centre ...

, the international Christian organisation that he founded.

History

London Great Tower Street geograph-3066471-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The origin and early history of All Hallows-by-the-Tower church are obscure. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 the church belonged to

Barking Abbey Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as having been "one of the most important nunneries in the country". Originally established in the 7th century, f ...

, a wealthy

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nunnery in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, originally established in the 7th century. The association with Barking was a long one, and All Hallows church was already known as "Berkyncherche" in the 12th century. According to

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

in 1086, Barking Abbey possessed "28 houses and half a church" in London: although the church is not named, it is usually identified with All Hallows. The original Anglo-Saxon abbey of Barking was founded by

Earconwald __NOTOC__ Earconwald or Erkenwald (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. Life Earconwald was born at Lindsey in Lincolnshire,Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 182 and was supposedly of royal ancestry. In 666, he established t ...

or Erkenwald, along with Chertsey Abbey, before he became

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 675, and it has been claimed that the land on which All Hallows stands was granted to the abbey, under Abbess Ethelburga, Erkenwald's sister, at that time. A charter dated to 687, listing properties belonging to Barking Abbey, includes two pieces of land in or near London. One of these was simply described as "iuxta Lundoniam", near/next to London, the other as "supra vicum Lundoniae", that is, in " Lunden-wic", the Anglo-Saxon town that had grown up in the area of the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, a mile to the west of the old Roman city of Londinium; neither of these, though, accurately describes the location of All Hallows church, inside the wall of the Roman city on the eastern side. In 1940, during World War II, the clearance after destruction caused by bombing revealed an archway built of reused Roman tiles and stonework, set in a surviving wall of the medieval church. The reuse of Roman building materials, and comparison with arches in the early Anglo-Saxon church at

Brixworth Brixworth is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 5,162, increasing to 5,228 at the 2011 census. The village's All Saints' Church is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Loca ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, suggested that the All Hallows arch was very early in date, and that an original church could have been built as early as the 7th century. This seemed to confirm the belief that the church had been founded as a daughter church of Barking Abbey at about the same time as the abbey itself was established, although it is doubtful that the first construction on the site would have been in stone. It is more likely that the stone church, of which the arch is a remnant, superseded an earlier wooden building. Recent research, and archaeological evidence that Roman tiles and stone were being used in the construction of other London churches as late as the 11th century, suggest that the arch could have been constructed at any time between the 7th century and the arrival of the Normans. Fragments of three 11th-century stone crosses also found during archeological work in the 1930s and clearance works after the bombing, now displayed in the crypt, also date from this first church. The church was expanded and rebuilt several times between the 11th and 15th centuries, with various elements of the Norman, 13th century and 15th century constructions still visible today. Its proximity to the

meant that it acquired royal connections, with Edward IV making one of its chapels a royal

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

and the beheaded victims of Tower executions being sent for temporary burial at All Hallows, Sir Thomas More being one of the most eminent of these. All Hallows-by-the-Tower Interior, London, UK - Diliff

All Hallows-by-the-Tower Interior, London, UK - Diliff

The church was badly damaged by an explosion in 1650 caused when some barrels of gunpowder being stored in a warehouse adjacent to the church exploded; its west tower and some 50 nearby houses were destroyed, and there were many fatalities. The tower was rebuilt in 1658, the only example of work carried out on a church during the Commonwealth era of 1649–1660. It only narrowly survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and owes its survival to Admiral William Penn, father of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

fame, who had his men from a nearby naval yard blow up the surrounding buildings to create firebreaks. During the Great Fire, Samuel Pepys climbed the church's tower to watch the progress of the blaze and what he described as "the saddest sight of desolation". Restored once more in the late 19th century, All Hallows was gutted by German bombers during

and required extensive reconstruction, and was rededicated in 1957. City of London All hallows by the tower 110114

Many portions of the old church survived the War and have been sympathetically restored. Its outer walls are 15th-century, with the Saxon arch doorway surviving from the original church. Many

brasses A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pavem ...

remain in the interior. (The

brass rubbing Brass rubbing was originally a largely British enthusiasm for reproducing onto paper monumental brasses – commemorative brass plaques found in churches, usually originally on the floor, from between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The ...

centre which used to be located at All Hallows is now closed). Three outstanding wooden statues of saints dating from the 15th and 16th centuries can also be found in the church, as too an exquisite Baptismal font cover which was carved in 1682 by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and othe ...

for £12, and which is regarded as one of the finest pieces of carving in London. The main-altar's reredos mural is a post-war work by Brian Thomas. In 1999 the AOC Archaeology Group excavated the cemetery and made many significant discoveries. The church has a museum in its crypt, containing portions of a Roman pavement which together with many artefacts was discovered many feet below the church in 1926/27. The exhibits focus on the history of the church and the City of London, and include Saxon and religious artefacts as well as the 17th century church plate. Also on display are the church's registers dating back to the 16th century, and notable entries include the baptism of

, the marriage of

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

(which is the only marriage of a U.S. president that occurred on foreign soil), and the burial of Archbishop

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

. Laud remained buried in a vault in the chapel for over 20 years; his body was moved during the Restoration to St John's College, Oxford. The crypt also houses the church's chapels dedicated to St Francis (14th century) and St Clare (early 17th century) as well as the Columbarium, created in 1933. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

in the crypt is of plain stone from the castle of

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

at Athlit in

The Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy L ...

. All Hallows-by-the-Tower has been the guild church of

since 1922. The church was designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 4 January 1950. The church also has a Chime which was brought back to working order in the 1970s by Philip Blewett, then a priest at the church, and Desmond Buckley over many weekends. The Knollys Rose Ceremony, held annually in June, starts at the church and processes to the Mansion House, where a single rose is presented to the Lord Mayor as a 'quit rent'. The parish's annual Beating Of The Bounds ceremony also includes a boat trip to the middle of the Thames to 'beat' the water that forms the southern boundary.

Notable people associated with the church

, sixth president of the United States: ''married to

Louisa Catherine Johnson Louisa Catherine Adams (Married and maiden names, ''née'' Johnson; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. Early life Adams was born on Februar ...

1797'' *

Judge Jeffreys George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, PC (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving a ...

, notorious "hanging judge": ''married 1667'' *

, Archbishop of Canterbury: beheaded at the Tower, ''buried 1645'' *

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

, beheaded at the Tower for refusing to sign Henry VIII's

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...

: ''buried 1535'' *

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

, Bishop of Rochester, beheaded at the Tower 22 June 1535: ''buried'' *

Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chi ...

: ''baptised 1555'' *

, founder of Pennsylvania: ''baptised 1644'' *

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

, made organ recordings at All Hallows * Philip Clayton, also known as 'Tubby', former vicar and founder of

* Cecil Thomas, a sculptor who provided several funerary figures between the WarsPublic Sculpture of the City of London
by Philip Ward-Jackson *

Cecil Jackson-Cole Cecil Jackson-Cole (1901-1979) was an English entrepreneur and humanitarian. He was associated with a number of charities including Oxfam, Help the Aged and ActionAid. A devout Christian, Jackson-Cole set up charitable trusts including the Volu ...

, founder of

Help the Aged Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to f ...

, Action Aid, co-founder of Oxfam and supporter of

Vicars

* 1269 John de S Magnus * 1292 William de Gattewicke * 1312 Gilbert de Wygeton * 1317 Walter Grapynell * 1333 Maurice de Jenninge * 1351 John Foucher * 1352 Nicholas Janing * 1365 Thomas de Broke * 1376 Thomas de Dalby * 1379 Laurence de Kagrer * 1387 William Colles * 1387 Robert Caton * 1390 Nicholas Bremesgrove * 1419 John Harlyston * —— John Clerke * 1427 William Northwold * 1431 John Iford * 1434 Thomas Virley * 1454 John Machen * 1454 John Wyne * —— John Walker * 1468 Thomas Laas * 1475 Robert Segrym * 1478 Richard Baldry * 1483 William Talbot * 1492

Edmund Chaderton Edmund Chaderton was Archdeacon of Salisbury, Archdeacon of Totnes during 1491 and Archdeacon of Chester The Archdeacon of Chester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the diocese of Chester. The area in which she, or he, has statutory duties is ...

* 1493 Rad Derlove * 1504 William Gedding * 1512 William Pattenson * 1525 Robert Carter * 1530 John Naylor * 1542 William Dawes * 1565 William Tyewhit * 1584 Richard Wood * 1591

Thomas Ravis Thomas Ravis (c. 1560 – 14 December 1609) was a Church of England bishop and academic. He was among those engaged in translating the King James Bible. Early life Ravis was born at Old Malden in Surrey, probably in 1560, and educated at West ...

* 1598 Robert Tyghe * 1616 Edward Abbott * 1654 Edward Layfield * 1680 George Hickes * 1686 John Gaskarth * 1732 William Geeke * 1767 George Stinton * 1783 Samuel Johnes Knight * 1852 John Thomas * 1884 Arthur James Mason * 1895 Arthur W. Robinson * 1917 Charles Lambert * 1922 Philip (Tubby) Clayton * 1963 Colin Cuttell * 1977 Peter Delaney * 2005 Bertrand Olivier * 2018 Katherine Hedderly

Organ

The earliest records of an organ in All Hallows is one by Anthony Duddyngton dating from 1521. This was presumably lost during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. An organ was installed in 1675 by Thomas and

Renatus Harris Renatus Harris (c. 1652 - 1724) was an English master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During the period of the Commonwealth, in the mid-seventeenth century, Puritans controlled the country and or ...

. In 1720 a new case was built by Gerard Smith. The organ was restored and improved by George Pike England in 1813, Bunting in 1872 and 1878, and

Gray and Davison Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

in 1902. There was further work by

Harrison and Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the ...

in 1909 and 1928. After destruction in 1940, a new organ by

was installed in 1957.

Organists

* Albertus Bryne II (or Bryan) 1675–1713 * Charles Young 1713–1758 * Charles John Frederick Lampe 1758–1767 * Samuel Bowyer 1767–1770 *

Charles Knyvett Charles Knyvett (11 February 1752 – 19 January 1822) was an English singer and organist. He established in 1791 in London the Vocal Concerts, a series of subscription concerts. Life He was born in Westminster, son of Charles Knyvett and his wif ...

and William Smethergell 1770–1783 * William Smethergell 1783–1823 * Mary Morrice 1823–1840 * Lisetta Rist 1840–1880 * Arthur Poyser * Gordon Phillips 1956–1991 * Jonathan Melling

Gallery

File:All Hallows-by-the-Tower Font Carving, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, The font, with carvings by

File:William Penn memorial.jpg,

memorial File:All Hallows by the Tower, Byward Street, London EC3 - Effigy - geograph.org.uk - 718024.jpg, Effigy of Philip Clayton File:Image taken from page 714 of 'Old and New London, etc' (11191354713).jpg, The church in 1750 File:Saxon arch All Hallows by the Tower.jpg, Saxon arch

References

External links

*
Location map
(Multimap.com)

at the Ship of Fools website
London Landscape TV episode (6 mins) about All Hallows By The Tower church
{{authority control Church of England church buildings in the City of London Diocese of London 11th-century church buildings in England Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London Religious museums in England History museums in London Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom Museums in the City of London Grade I listed churches in the City of London