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, a Roman Catholic
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. 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. 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. 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 It is more likely that the stone church, of which the arch is a remnant, superseded an earlier wooden building.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, 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 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. 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. Many portions of the old church survived the War and have been sympathetically restored. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 ==