Coordinates: All Hallows Lombard Street, also seen with descriptor

Gracechurch Street Gracechurch Street is a main road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, which is designated the A1213. It is home to a number of shops, restaurants, and offices and has an entrance to Leadenhall Market, a covered ...

, was a parish church 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 ...

. It stood behind thin buildings fronting both streets, in Langbourn Ward, The west and south sides faced into Ball Alley. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt following the Great Fire of London. It was demolished in 1937; its tower was reconstructed at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

as part of the new church of All Hallows, which also received its bells and complete interior fittings.

Medieval church

All Hallows is first recorded in 1054, when a citizen of London called Brihtmerus gave its patronage to the prior and chapter of Canterbury Cathedral. John Stow (d.1605), recording all of London, calls it "All Hallows Grasse Church" because "the grass market went down that way, when that street was far broader than now it is". The church was rebuilt around the beginning of the 16th century. The south aisle is recorded as having been completed in 1516. A north aisle and other works were paid for by the Pewterer's Company. A bell tower was completed in 1544 and the stone porch from the dissolved priory/monastery of St John of Jerusalem, (

Clerkenwell Priory Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was ...

) was used. The monastery's bells also were purchased, but, due to the death of a benefactor, never installed, leaving the tower with only one bell.. Seymour takes his information from Stow's ''Survey''. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the patronage was transferred to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury.

Rebuilding after the Great Fire

All Hallows was badly damaged in the Great Fire of 1666. The parishioners attempted to patch it up, and had the walls rendered with straw and lime in an attempt to stop any further decay. A bell was hung in the steeple, despite its perilous condition, as late as 1679. Ultimately, however, restoration proved impractical and the old building was replaced with a new one designed by the office of

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

. It was completed in 1694 at a cost of £8,058 15s. 6d (). The exterior was plain. In the 1830s

George Godwin George Godwin FRS (28 January 1813 – 27 January 1888) was an influential British architect, journalist, and editor of ''The Builder'' magazine. Life He was one of nine children of the architect George Godwin senior (1780–1863) and trained a ...

noted that the church was so hemmed in by other buildings, that "it is with difficulty discovered, even when looked for; it has in consequence been called 'the invisible church'." The stone tower stood at the west end of the south wall. As seen in the faithful rebuilding in Twickenham today, the tower has three storeys. The lowest storey has with a small porch formed by Corinthian columns with entablature and pediment, giving access to the body of the church through a vestibule; the second storey: round-headed windows; the third: square openings with louvres, each surmounted by a plain cornice (ledge). A cornice and parapet complete. It reaches, as then, about in height. The church was long and wide. The interior was a simple undivided space, without aisles; a gallery at the west end was supported on a single column. The ceiling was coved at the sides. There were five windows on the north side, and four on the south, but the only illumination at the east end was through two small windows in the side walls of the recess housing the reredos. In 1880 additional lighting was provided by inserting a rectangular skylight in the ceiling. The walls were panelled with oak to the height of . Above the northern doorcase stood a wooden figure of Death, about four feet high, and over the southern one was a similar figure of Time. The upper parts of each of these doorcases were carved with openwork decoration "the view whereof is intercepted by an artificial white curtain, likewise carved, but so natural that many have attempted to draw it on one side". The

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

pew, in the south-east corner, had two sword-rests. There were high-backed seats for the

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

s, their ends ornamented with the Lion and Unicorn. Attached to the wall in the vestibule was a frame containing shelves for loaves for distribution to the poor. There was an oak reredos, ornamented with a carved pelican and seven candlesticks. Parish marks in Lombard Street

An organ built by

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 ...

was installed in 1695, only being replaced in 1902 by one commissioned from Noble & Sons. During the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the roof space was used as a storeroom for ammunition by a volunteer corps.

John Wesley

An entry in the parish record book for 28 December 1789 states that John Wesley preached at

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

. He recalled an earlier incident where, just as he was about to preach, he realised he had forgotten his sermon, and confided this to the attendant verger.

The reply came ”What cannot you trust God for a sermon?” and upon this rebuke I went into the pulpit and preached with much freedom and acceptance; and from that time I have never taken a manuscript with me.

Demolition

In 1879 ten bells from St Dionis Backchurch were hung at the church, but such optimism could not disguise the fact that the residential population of the City was falling, year on year. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the church was earmarked for demolition, despite fierce opposition. In 1937 the church, which had been found to be unsafe, was demolished and Wren's tower, porch and the furnishings were reused in the construction of

All Hallows Twickenham All Hallows Twickenham is a Grade I listed church and parish of the Church of England in Twickenham, London. It incorporates the tower of All Hallows Lombard Street and is prominently south of a major road of west London, near Twickenham Stadiu ...

. The small parish was united with St Edmund the King and Martyr which lies the same length of the former church to the west. The site now forms part of the tall, multi-unit building including 2 George Yard and 20 Gracechurch Street. These remain partly fronted by small retail units: Itsu, Gap and New Look. Ball Alley, which connected the church with Lombard Street and George Yard is part of the replacement building today. In its final decades it was accessed only by narrow pedestrian entrances and the west limb by the west end of the church was very narrow. A similar void was by the north side of the church, seemingly with few doors. The east side of the church directly attached to shops on Gracechurch Street and the south side of the church fronted the wider part of Ball Alley. A parish boundary mark survives in Lombard Street.

Present day

The parish now forms part of the combined

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of '' St Edmund the King and Martyr, and St Mary Woolnoth Lombard Street with

St Nicholas Acons Geographic coordinate system, Coordinates: St Nicholas Acons was a parish church in the City of London. In existence by the late 11th century, it was destroyed during the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt. History The church was ...

, All Hallows Lombard Street,

St Benet Gracechurch St Benet Gracechurch (or Grass Church), so called because a haymarket existed nearby (Cobb), was a parish church in the City of London. First recorded in the 11th century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and rebuilt by the o ...

St Leonard Eastcheap St. Leonard, Eastcheap, sometimes referred to as ''St Leonard Milkchurch'', was a parish church in the City of London. Of medieval origin, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. The site of the church was retained a ...

, St Dionis Backchurch and

St Mary Woolchurch Haw St Mary Woolchurch Haw was a parish church in the City of London, destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt. It came within the ward of Walbrook. History The church of St Mary Woolchurch Haw was an ancient foundation, dati ...

'' – usually shortened to "St Edmund & St Mary Woolnoth". It is part of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

's Diocese of London.Diocese of London
St Edmund & St Mary Woolnoth

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:All Hallows Lombard Street 11th-century establishments in England 1937 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1937 Churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London but since demolished Christopher Wren church buildings in London