All Hallows-by-the-Tower, also previously dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin and sometimes known as All Hallows Barking, is an ancient Anglican church on Byward Street in the City of London, overlooking the Tower of London. The church and Tower Hill play a role in the climax of my current Work in Progress (WIP), a cozy mystery.

Founded in 675, it is one of the oldest churches in London and contains, inside, a 7th-century Saxon arch with recycled Roman tiles, the oldest surviving piece of church fabric in the city. (St. Pancras Parish Church in King’s Cross has been a place of Christian worship since the sixth century.)

History
All Hallows-by-the-Tower was first established in 675 by the Saxon Abbey at Barking 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 and 15th centuries. 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.

The church was badly damaged by an explosion in 1650 caused when some barrels of gunpowder being stored in the churchyard 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 of Pennsylvania fame, who had his men from a nearby naval yard demolish the surrounding buildings to create firebreaks. During the Great Fire, Samuel Pepys climbed the church’s spire to watch the progress of the blaze and what he described as “the saddest sight of desolation.”

Restored in the late 19th century, All Hallows was gutted by German bombers during the Blitz in World War II and required extensive reconstruction, only being rededicated in 1957.

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 arch doorway surviving from the original church, which is the oldest piece of church material in London. 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 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. In 1999, the AOC Archaeology Group excavated the cemetery and made many significant discoveries.

The church has a museum called the Undercroft Museum, containing portions of a Roman pavement which together with many artefacts was discovered many feet below the church in 1926. The exhibits focus on the history of the church and the City of London, and include Saxon and religious artefacts. 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; it was moved during the Restoration to St. John’s College, Oxford.

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.

Notable People Associated with the Church
**John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States: married 1797
**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 Act of Supremacy: buried 1535
**John Fisher, beheaded at the Tower: buried
**Lancelot Andrewes: baptised 1555
**William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania: baptised 1644
**Albert Schweitzer, made organ recordings at All Hallows
**Philip Clayton, also known as ‘Tubby’, former vicar and founder of Toc H
**Cecil Thomas, a sculptor who provided several funerary figures between the Wars

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
– Jo Clerke
1419 John Harlyston
1427 W. Northwold
1431 John Iford
1434 Thomas Virley
1454 John Machen
1454 John Wyne
14- 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
1565 William Tyewhit
1584 Richard Wood
1591 Thomas Ravis
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 A.W. Robinson
1917 C.E. Lambert
1922 Philip Byard Clayton
1963 Colin Cuttell
1977 Peter Delaney
2005 Bertrand Olivier

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 II (or Bryan) 1675-1713
Charles Young 1713-1758
Charles John Frederick Lampe 1758-1767
Samuel Bowyer 1767-1770
Charles Knyvett 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