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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
[[Image:AllHallowsByTheTowerChurch.jpg|thumb|right|All Hallows By The Tower Church]]
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
'''All Hallows-by-the-Tower''' is an ancient [[Anglican]] church located in Byward Street in the [[City of London]], overlooking the [[Tower of London]].
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| osgraw = TQ 33385 80687
| location = [[Byward Street]]<br />[[London]], [[EC postcode area|EC3]]
| country = [[England]]
| denomination = [[Church of England]]
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| vicar = Katherine Hedderly
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| asstpriest = Sophia Acland
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'''All Hallows-by-the-Tower''', at one time dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|the Virgin Mary]] and sometimes known as '''All Hallows Barking''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harben |first1=Henry A. |title=A Dictionary of London |date=1918 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins Ltd |location=London |page=13}}</ref><ref name="Survey" /> is an Early Medieval [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] church on [[Byward Street]] in the [[City of London]], England, overlooking the [[Tower of London]].
It was first established in [[675]] by the now-defunct [[Saxon]] Barking Abbey and was for many years named after the abbey, as ''All Hallows Barking''. The church was built on the site of a former [[Roman]] building, traces of which have been discovered in the crypt. It was expanded and rebuilt several times between the [[11th century]] and [[15th century]]. Its proximity to the Tower meant that it acquired royal connections, with [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] making it a royal [[chantry]] and the beheaded victims of Tower executions being sent for temporary burial at All Hallows.


According to the church website and other sources it is "the oldest church in the City of London" and was founded in AD 675,<ref>{{cite web |title=All Hallows by the Tower: History |url=https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/history/ |website=All Hallows by the Tower |access-date=9 January 2020 |archive-date=12 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112094319/https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Pevsner Cherry">{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget |author-link1=Nikolaus_Pevsner |title=The Buildings of England: London I: The Cities of London and Westminster |date=1973 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=014-071011-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/londonicitiesof00pevs/page/33 33; 142–3] |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/details/londonicitiesof00pevs/page/33 }}</ref> although recent research has questioned these claims.<ref name="Pevsner Bradley" /><ref name="Schofield" /> The church survived the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, but was badly damaged during [[the Blitz]] in [[World War II]]. Following extensive reconstruction, it was rededicated in 1957. From 1922 until 1962 the [[vicar]] was [[Tubby Clayton]], and the church is still the guild church of [[Toc H]], the international Christian organisation that he founded.
The church was badly damaged by a nearby explosion in [[1649]], which demolished its west tower, and only narrowly survived the [[Great Fire of London]] in [[1666]]. It owed its survival to Admiral William Penn, father of [[William Penn]] of [[Pennsylvania]] fame, who saved it by having the surrounding buildings demolished to create firebreaks. In [[1926]] a [[Roman]] pavement together with many artifacts was discovered many feet below the church. Restored in the late [[19th century]], All Hallows was gutted by [[The Blitz]] in [[World War II]] and required extensive reconstruction, only being rededicated in [[1957]].


== History ==
Many portions of the old church survived the war and have been sympathetically restored. Its outer walls are 15th century, with a 7th century Saxon doorway surviving from the original church. Many brasses remain in the interior (where one of London's [[brass rubbing]] centres is now located). Three outstanding wooden statues of saints dating from the 15th and 16th centuries can also be found in the church, as can an exquisite [[Baptismal font|font]] cover believed to have been carved in [[1682]] by [[Grinling Gibbons]], which is regarded by many as one of the finest pieces of carving in London.
[[File:London Great Tower Street geograph-3066471-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction in 1955, following extensive damage in [[The Blitz]]]]
[[File:All-Hallows-By-The-Tower archway.jpg|thumb|The Anglo-Saxon archway inside All Hallows]]
[[File:All Hallows-by-the-Tower Interior, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|The interior]]
[[File:City of London All hallows by the tower 110114.jpg|thumb|The main-altar mural, a post-war work by [[Brian Thomas (church artist)|Brian Thomas]]]]
The origin and early history of All Hallows-by-the-Tower church are obscure.<ref name="Survey">{{cite book |last1=Redstone |first1=Lilian J. |title=The Church of All Hallows Barking (Survey of London 12, part 1) |date=1929 |publisher=London County Council/Batsford |location=London |pages=1–20 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol12/pt1 |access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref> At the time of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1539 the church belonged to [[Barking Abbey]], a wealthy [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] nunnery in [[Barking, London|Barking]], [[Essex]], 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]] 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.<ref name="Survey" /><ref name="Pevsner Bradley" />


[[File:Chertsey Breviary - St. Erkenwald.jpg|alt=manuscript image of a Saxon saint|thumb|St Erkenwald, who may be associated with the earliest phases of the churchy in Saxon times, but certainly founded the Senior ecclesiastical house associated with it]]
===Famous people associated with the church===
The original [[Anglo-Saxon]] abbey of Barking was founded by [[Earconwald]] or Erkenwald,<ref>"The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p42: London; Quartet; 1975</ref> along with Chertsey Abbey, before he became [[Bishop of London]] in 675, and it has been claimed that the land on which All Hallows stands was granted to the abbey, under Abbess [[Æthelburh of Barking|Æthelburh (Ethelburga)]], Erkenwald's sister, at that time.<ref name="Survey" /> A charter dated to 687, listing properties belonging to Barking Abbey, includes two pieces of land in or near London.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=C. R. |title=The Early Charters of Eastern England |date=1966 |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=Leicester |pages=122–7}}</ref> One of these was simply described as "''iuxta Lundoniam''", near/next to London, the other as "''supra vicum Lundoniae''", that is, in "[[Lundenwic]]", the Anglo-Saxon town that had grown up in the area of the [[Strand, London|Strand]], 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.<ref name="Survey" />


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 architecture|Anglo-Saxon]] church at [[All Saints' Church, Brixworth|Brixworth]], [[Northamptonshire]], 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.<ref name="Kendrick Radford">{{cite journal |last1=Kendrick |first1=T. D. |last2=Radford |first2=C. A. Ralegh |author-link1=T. D. Kendrick |author-link2=Ralegh Radford |title=Recent discoveries at All Hallows, Barking |journal=Antiquaries Journal |date=1943 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=14–18|doi=10.1017/S0003581500042190 |s2cid=161706670 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Pevsner Cherry" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Durham |first1=John |last2=Blewett |first2=P. R. W. |title=A Short History of All Hallows-by-the-Tower |date=1976 |publisher=All Hallows-by-the-Tower |location=London |page=1}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Schofield">{{cite journal |last1=Schofield |first1=John |title=Saxon and medieval parish churches in the City of London: a review |journal=Transactions of London and Middlesex Archaeological Society |date=1994 |volume=45 |pages=43, 81–2 |url=http://www.lamas.org.uk/archives/transactions/transactions-vol45.html |access-date=9 January 2020 |archive-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118132216/http://www.lamas.org.uk/archives/transactions/transactions-vol45.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Pevsner Bradley">{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Simon |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=London: The City Churches |date=2002 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven & London |isbn=978-0-300-09655-2 |pages=17, 49–51 |edition=Revised}}</ref> Fragments of three 11th-century stone crosses also found during archeological work in the 1930s and clearance works after the bombing,<ref name="Kendrick Radford" /> now displayed in the crypt, also date from this first church.<ref name="Schofield" /><ref name="Pevsner Bradley" />
* [[John Quincy Adams]], sixth [[President of the United States]]: ''married [[1797]]''
* [[Judge Jeffreys]], notorious "hanging judge": ''married [[1667]]''
* Archbishop [[William Laud]], beheaded at the Tower: ''buried [[1645]]''
* [[Thomas More]], beheaded
* [[John Fisher]], beheaded
* [[William Penn]], founder of [[Pennsylvania]]: ''baptised [[1644]]''


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.<ref name="Pevsner Bradley" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cobb |first1=G |title=The Old Churches of London |date=1942 |publisher=Batsford |location=London}}</ref> Its proximity to the [[Tower of London]] meant that it acquired royal connections, with [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] making one of its chapels a royal [[chantry]] and the beheaded victims of Tower executions being sent for temporary burial at All Hallows, [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]] being one of the most eminent of these.


The church was badly damaged by an explosion in 1650<ref>"The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, [[Pan Macmillan]], 1983 (rev 1993,2008) {{ISBN|978-1-4050-4924-5}}</ref> 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.<ref>"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p23:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917</ref> The tower was rebuilt in 1658. It only narrowly survived the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666 and owes its survival to [[William Penn (Royal Navy officer)|Admiral William Penn]], father of [[William Penn]] of [[Pennsylvania]] 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".
==See also==


[[Victorian restoration|Restored]] once more in the late 19th century, All Hallows was gutted by German bombers during [[the Blitz]] in [[World War II]] and required extensive reconstruction, and was rededicated in 1957. The church now included carving by the Tasmanian born wood carver [[Ellen Nora Payne]].<ref name=payne>{{Cite web |title=Ellen Nora Payne biography at Design and Art Australia Online |url=https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ellen-nora-payne/biography/ |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=www.daao.org.au}}</ref>
* [[List of churches and cathedrals of London]]


Many portions of the old church survived the War and have been sympathetically restored.<ref>"The City of London Churches" [[John Betjeman|Betjeman,J]] Andover, Pitkin, 1967 {{ISBN|0-85372-112-2}}</ref> Its outer walls are 15th-century, with the Anglo-Saxon arch doorway surviving from the original church. Many [[Monumental brass|brasses]] remain in the interior. (The [[brass rubbing]] 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]] 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 (church artist)|Brian Thomas]].
==External links==


In 1999 the AOC Archaeology Group excavated the cemetery and made many significant discoveries.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112224810/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121217194252/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112224810/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 December 2012|title=A case of metastatic carcinoma from 18th century London|first=M.|last=Melikian|date=23 July 2018|journal=International Journal of Osteoarchaeology|volume=16|issue=2|pages=138–144|doi=10.1002/oa.813|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

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 Anglo-Saxon and religious artefacts as well as the 17th-century church plate. Also on display are the [[church register|church's registers]] dating back to the 16th century, and notable entries include the baptism of [[William Penn]], the marriage of [[John Quincy Adams]], and the burial of Archbishop [[William Laud]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/visit/crypt/|title=All Hallows by the Tower |website=www.ahbtt.org.uk}}</ref> 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]] in the crypt is of plain stone from the castle of [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] at [[Château Pèlerin|Athlit]] in [[The Holy Land]].<ref>Ralls, Karen, ''Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, events and symbols of the Order of the Temple'', Career Press, 2007, p.22</ref>

All Hallows-by-the-Tower has been the guild church of [[Toc H]] since 1922. The church was designated a Grade I [[listed building]] on 4 January 1950.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1064671 |desc=Church of All Hallows by the Tower |access-date=23 January 2009}}</ref>

The church also has a [[Chime (bell instrument)|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 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 ==
* [[John Quincy Adams]], sixth president of the United States: (married to [[Louisa Catherine Johnson]] in 1797)
* [[Lancelot Andrewes]]: ''baptised 1555''
* [[Tubby Clayton|Philip Clayton]], also known as 'Tubby', former vicar and founder of [[Toc H]]<ref>"The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 {{ISBN|0-9553945-0-3}}</ref>
* [[Cecil Jackson-Cole]], founder of [[Help the Aged]], [[Action Aid]], co-founder of [[Oxfam]] and supporter of [[Toc H]]
* [[John Fisher]], Bishop of Rochester, beheaded at the Tower 22 June 1535: (buried)
* [[Judge Jeffreys]], notorious "hanging judge": (married 1667)
* [[William Laud]], Archbishop of Canterbury: beheaded at the Tower, (buried 1645)
* [[Thomas More]], beheaded at the Tower for refusing to sign Henry VIII's [[Acts of Supremacy|Act of Supremacy]]: (buried 1535)
* [[William Penn]], founder of Pennsylvania: (baptised 1644)
* [[Albert Schweitzer]], made organ recordings at All Hallows
* [[Cecil Thomas (sculptor)|Cecil Thomas]], a sculptor who provided several funerary figures between the Wars<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KiK0DbcUBIUC Public Sculpture of the City of London] by Philip Ward-Jackson</ref>

== Vicars ==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* 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]]
* 1493 Rad Derlove
* 1504 William Gedding
* 1512 William Pattenson
* 1525 Robert Carter
* 1530 John Naylor
* 1542 William Dawes<ref>{{acad|id=DWS532W|name=Dawes, William}}</ref>
* 1565 Richard Tyrwhit
* 1585 Richard Wood<ref>{{acad|id=WT562R|name=Wood, Richard}}</ref>
* 1591 [[Thomas Ravis]]
* 1598 [[Robert Tighe|Robert Tyghe]]
* 1616 Edward Abbott<ref>{{alox1|title=Abbott, Edward}}</ref>
* 1635 [[Edward Layfield]] <small>(deprived)</small>
* 1643 Thomas Clendon<ref>{{acad|id=CLNN620T|name=Clendon, Thomas}}</ref>
* 1662 Edward Layfield <small>(restored)</small>
* 1680 [[George Hickes (divine)|George Hickes]]
* 1686 John Gascarth<ref>{{acad|id=GSCT667J|name=Gascarth, John}}</ref>
* 1733 William Geekie<ref>{{acad|id=GKY706W|name=Geekie, William}}</ref>
* 1767 George Stinton<ref>{{alox2|title=Stinton, George (1)}}</ref>
* 1783 Samuel Johnes Knight<ref>{{alox2|title=Knight, Samuel Johnes}}</ref>
* 1852 John Thomas<ref>{{alox2|title=Thomas, John (25)}}</ref>
* 1884 [[Arthur James Mason]]
* 1895 Arthur W. Robinson<ref>{{acad|id=RBN874AW|name=Robinson, Arthur William}}</ref>
* 1917 [[Charles Lambert (Archdeacon of Hampstead)|Charles Lambert]]
* 1922 [[Tubby Clayton|Philip (Tubby) Clayton]]
* 1963 Colin Cuttell
* 1977 [[Peter Delaney (priest)|Peter Delaney]]
* 2005 [[Bertrand Olivier]]
* 2018 Katherine Hedderly
{{div col end}}

== Organ ==
[[File:All Hallows-by-the-Tower Organ, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|The 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]].

An organ was installed in 1675 by Thomas and [[Renatus Harris]]. 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]] in 1902. There was further work by [[Harrison and Harrison]] in 1909 and 1928. After destruction in 1940, a new organ by [[Harrison and Harrison]] was installed in 1957.

== Organists ==
* [[Albertus Bryne#Albertus Bryne II|Albertus Bryne II]] (or Bryan) 1675–1713<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* [[Charles Young (musician)|Charles Young]] 1713–1758<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* [[Charles John Frederick Lampe]] 1758–1767<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* Samuel Bowyer 1767–1770<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* [[Charles Knyvett]] and William Smethergell 1770–1783<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* [[William Smethergell]] 1783–1823<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* Mary Morrice 1823–1840<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* Lisetta Rist 1840–1880<ref>Dawe (1983) ''Organists of the City of London 1666-1850'' p.22</ref>
* Arthur Poyser
* Gordon Phillips 1956–1991
* Jonathan Melling

=== Gallery ===
<gallery>

File:All Hallows-by-the-Tower Font Carving, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|The font, with carvings by [[Grinling Gibbons]]
File:William Penn memorial.jpg|[[William Penn]] memorial
File:All Hallows by the Tower, Byward Street, London EC3 - Effigy - geograph.org.uk - 718024.jpg|Effigy of [[Tubby 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|Anglo-Saxon arch
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity|London}}
* [[List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London]]
* [[List of Churches in London]]
* [[Malta George Cross Memorial]] (located just outside the church)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|All Hallows-by-the-Tower}}
* {{Official website|http://www.ahbtt.org.uk/ }}
* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-0.0794865733424013&GridN=51.5096665809782&client=public&lon=-0.0794865733424013&lat=51.5096665809782&place=+Byward+Street,+EC3,+CITY+OF+LONDON&db=GB&local=&type=&start=&limit=&overviewmap=&scale=5000 Location map] (Multimap.com)
* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-0.0794865733424013&GridN=51.5096665809782&client=public&lon=-0.0794865733424013&lat=51.5096665809782&place=+Byward+Street,+EC3,+CITY+OF+LONDON&db=GB&local=&type=&start=&limit=&overviewmap=&scale=5000 Location map] (Multimap.com)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061020004000/http://www.shipoffools.com/Mystery/mws_05/reports/1059.html Mystery Worshipper Report] at the [[Ship of Fools (website)|Ship of Fools website]]
* [http://www.allhallowsbythetower.org.uk/ www.allhallowsbythetower.org.uk] - All Hallows-by-the-Tower church website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713204029/http://lltv.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=358432 London Landscape TV episode (6 mins) about All Hallows By The Tower church]

{{London landmarks}}
{{London museums and galleries}}
{{Churches in the City of London}}
{{authority control}}


[[Category:Churches in London]]
[[Category:11th-century church buildings in England]]
[[Category:City of London]]
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in the City of London]]
[[Category:Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London]]
[[Category:Diocese of London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed churches in the City of London]]
[[Category:History museums in London]]
[[Category:Museums in the City of London]]
[[Category:Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Religious museums in England]]

Latest revision as of 23:20, 10 August 2024

All Hallows-by-the-Tower
All Hallows-by-the-Tower in 2020
Map
51°30′34″N 0°04′46″W / 51.5094°N 0.0794°W / 51.5094; -0.0794
OS grid referenceTQ 33385 80687
LocationByward Street
London, EC3
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipModern Catholic
Websitewww.ahbtt.org.uk
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
Administration
DioceseDiocese of London
Clergy
Vicar(s)Katherine Hedderly
Assistant priest(s)Sophia Acland

All Hallows-by-the-Tower, at one time dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and the Virgin Mary and sometimes known as All Hallows Barking,[1][2] is an Early Medieval Anglican church on Byward Street in the City of London, England, overlooking the Tower of London.

According to the church website and other sources it is "the oldest church in the City of London" and was founded in AD 675,[3][4] although recent research has questioned these claims.[5][6] The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666, but was badly damaged during the Blitz in World War II. Following extensive reconstruction, it was rededicated in 1957. From 1922 until 1962 the vicar was Tubby Clayton, and the church is still the guild church of Toc H, the international Christian organisation that he founded.

History

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Reconstruction in 1955, following extensive damage in The Blitz
The Anglo-Saxon archway inside All Hallows
The interior
The main-altar mural, a post-war work by Brian Thomas

The origin and early history of All Hallows-by-the-Tower church are obscure.[2] At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 the church belonged to Barking Abbey, a wealthy Benedictine nunnery in Barking, Essex, 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 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.[2][5]

manuscript image of a Saxon saint
St Erkenwald, who may be associated with the earliest phases of the churchy in Saxon times, but certainly founded the Senior ecclesiastical house associated with it

The original Anglo-Saxon abbey of Barking was founded by Earconwald or Erkenwald,[7] along with Chertsey Abbey, before he became Bishop of London in 675, and it has been claimed that the land on which All Hallows stands was granted to the abbey, under Abbess Æthelburh (Ethelburga), Erkenwald's sister, at that time.[2] A charter dated to 687, listing properties belonging to Barking Abbey, includes two pieces of land in or near London.[8] One of these was simply described as "iuxta Lundoniam", near/next to London, the other as "supra vicum Lundoniae", that is, in "Lundenwic", the Anglo-Saxon town that had grown up in the area of the Strand, 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.[2]

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, Northamptonshire, 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.[9] 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.[4][10] 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.[6][5] Fragments of three 11th-century stone crosses also found during archeological work in the 1930s and clearance works after the bombing,[9] now displayed in the crypt, also date from this first church.[6][5]

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.[5][11] Its proximity to the Tower of London meant that it acquired royal connections, with Edward IV making one of its chapels a royal chantry 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.

The church was badly damaged by an explosion in 1650[12] 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.[13] The tower was rebuilt in 1658. It only narrowly survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and owes its survival to Admiral William Penn, father of William Penn of Pennsylvania 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 the Blitz in World War II and required extensive reconstruction, and was rededicated in 1957. The church now included carving by the Tasmanian born wood carver Ellen Nora Payne.[14]

Many portions of the old church survived the War and have been sympathetically restored.[15] Its outer walls are 15th-century, with the Anglo-Saxon arch doorway surviving from the original church. Many brasses remain in the interior. (The brass rubbing 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 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.[16]

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 Anglo-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 William Penn, the marriage of John Quincy Adams, and the burial of Archbishop William Laud.[17] 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 in the crypt is of plain stone from the castle of Richard I at Athlit in The Holy Land.[18]

All Hallows-by-the-Tower has been the guild church of Toc H since 1922. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.[19]

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 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

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Vicars

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  • 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
  • 1493 Rad Derlove
  • 1504 William Gedding
  • 1512 William Pattenson
  • 1525 Robert Carter
  • 1530 John Naylor
  • 1542 William Dawes[22]
  • 1565 Richard Tyrwhit
  • 1585 Richard Wood[23]
  • 1591 Thomas Ravis
  • 1598 Robert Tyghe
  • 1616 Edward Abbott[24]
  • 1635 Edward Layfield (deprived)
  • 1643 Thomas Clendon[25]
  • 1662 Edward Layfield (restored)
  • 1680 George Hickes
  • 1686 John Gascarth[26]
  • 1733 William Geekie[27]
  • 1767 George Stinton[28]
  • 1783 Samuel Johnes Knight[29]
  • 1852 John Thomas[30]
  • 1884 Arthur James Mason
  • 1895 Arthur W. Robinson[31]
  • 1917 Charles Lambert
  • 1922 Philip (Tubby) Clayton
  • 1963 Colin Cuttell
  • 1977 Peter Delaney
  • 2005 Bertrand Olivier
  • 2018 Katherine Hedderly

Organ

[edit]
The 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.

An organ was installed in 1675 by Thomas and Renatus Harris. 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 in 1902. There was further work by Harrison and Harrison in 1909 and 1928. After destruction in 1940, a new organ by Harrison and Harrison was installed in 1957.

Organists

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Harben, Henry A. (1918). A Dictionary of London. London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd. p. 13.
  2. ^ a b c d e Redstone, Lilian J. (1929). The Church of All Hallows Barking (Survey of London 12, part 1). London: London County Council/Batsford. pp. 1–20. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  3. ^ "All Hallows by the Tower: History". All Hallows by the Tower. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1973). The Buildings of England: London I: The Cities of London and Westminster (3rd ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 33, 142–3. ISBN 014-071011-6.
  5. ^ a b c d e Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). London: The City Churches (Revised ed.). New Haven & London: Yale University Press. pp. 17, 49–51. ISBN 978-0-300-09655-2.
  6. ^ a b c Schofield, John (1994). "Saxon and medieval parish churches in the City of London: a review". Transactions of London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. 45: 43, 81–2. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. ^ "The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p42: London; Quartet; 1975
  8. ^ Hart, C. R. (1966). The Early Charters of Eastern England. Leicester: Leicester University Press. pp. 122–7.
  9. ^ a b Kendrick, T. D.; Radford, C. A. Ralegh (1943). "Recent discoveries at All Hallows, Barking". Antiquaries Journal. 23 (1): 14–18. doi:10.1017/S0003581500042190. S2CID 161706670.
  10. ^ Durham, John; Blewett, P. R. W. (1976). A Short History of All Hallows-by-the-Tower. London: All Hallows-by-the-Tower. p. 1.
  11. ^ Cobb, G (1942). The Old Churches of London. London: Batsford.
  12. ^ "The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
  13. ^ "The City Churches" Tabor, M. p23:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
  14. ^ "Ellen Nora Payne biography at Design and Art Australia Online". www.daao.org.au. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  15. ^ "The City of London Churches" Betjeman,J Andover, Pitkin, 1967 ISBN 0-85372-112-2
  16. ^ Melikian, M. (23 July 2018). "A case of metastatic carcinoma from 18th century London". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 16 (2): 138–144. doi:10.1002/oa.813. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012.
  17. ^ "All Hallows by the Tower". www.ahbtt.org.uk.
  18. ^ Ralls, Karen, Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, events and symbols of the Order of the Temple, Career Press, 2007, p.22
  19. ^ Historic England. "Church of All Hallows by the Tower (1064671)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  20. ^ "The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0-9553945-0-3
  21. ^ Public Sculpture of the City of London by Philip Ward-Jackson
  22. ^ "Dawes, William (DWS532W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  23. ^ "Wood, Richard (WT562R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  24. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Abbott, Edward" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  25. ^ "Clendon, Thomas (CLNN620T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  26. ^ "Gascarth, John (GSCT667J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  27. ^ "Geekie, William (GKY706W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  28. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Stinton, George (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  29. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Knight, Samuel Johnes" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  30. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Thomas, John (25)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  31. ^ "Robinson, Arthur William (RBN874AW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  32. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  33. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  34. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  35. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  36. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  37. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  38. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
  39. ^ Dawe (1983) Organists of the City of London 1666-1850 p.22
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