All Hallows-by-the-Tower, also previously dedicated to
St Mary the VirginMary , usually referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Muslims also refer to her as the Virgin Mary or Syeda Mariam which means Our Lady Mary...
, is an ancient Anglican church located in
Byward StreetByward Street is a short street in the City of London which runs north-east from Great Tower Street, at No. 46 Mark Lane, to No. 15 Trinity Square, Tower Hill in Tower Ward.Constructed between 1895 and 1906 through the Met. and Dist. Railways Act, 1882 it replaced the much older Black Swan Court,...
in the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, overlooking the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic fortress and scheduled monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames...
.
All Hallows-by-the-Tower was first established in 675 by the Saxon Abbey at
BarkingThe ruined remains of Barking Abbey are situated in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in East London, England, and now form a public open space....
and was for many years named after the abbey, as
All Hallows Barking. The church was built on the site of a former
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
building, traces of which have been discovered in the
cryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
.
All Hallows-by-the-Tower, also previously dedicated to
St Mary the VirginMary , usually referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Muslims also refer to her as the Virgin Mary or Syeda Mariam which means Our Lady Mary...
, is an ancient Anglican church located in
Byward StreetByward Street is a short street in the City of London which runs north-east from Great Tower Street, at No. 46 Mark Lane, to No. 15 Trinity Square, Tower Hill in Tower Ward.Constructed between 1895 and 1906 through the Met. and Dist. Railways Act, 1882 it replaced the much older Black Swan Court,...
in the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, overlooking the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic fortress and scheduled monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames...
.
History
All Hallows-by-the-Tower was first established in 675 by the Saxon Abbey at
BarkingThe ruined remains of Barking Abbey are situated in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in East London, England, and now form a public open space....
and was for many years named after the abbey, as
All Hallows Barking. The church was built on the site of a former
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
building, traces of which have been discovered in the
cryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
. 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 IVEdward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
making it a royal
chantryChantry is the English term for the establishment of an institutional chapel on private land or within a greater church, where a priest would celebrate Mass. The same term is also used for the endowment itself. The word derives from the Latin cantaria, meaning 'licence to sing mass'...
and the beheaded victims of Tower executions being sent for temporary burial at All Hallows.
The church was badly damaged by a nearby explosion in 1649, which demolished its west tower, and only narrowly survived the
Great Fire of LondonThe Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
in 1666. It owed its survival to Admiral William Penn, father of
William PennWilliam Penn was an English founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future U.S. State of Pennsylvania. He was known as an early champion of democracy and religious freedom and famous for his good relations and his treaties with...
of
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
fame, who saved it by having the surrounding buildings demolished to create firebreaks. During the Great Fire,
Samuel PepysSamuel Pepys, FRS was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration, to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II...
climbed its spire to watch the progress of the fire.
Restored in the late 19th century, All Hallows was gutted by
German bombersNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
during the London Blitz in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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 doorway surviving from the original church. Many
brassesMonumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
remain in the interior (where one of London's
brass rubbingBrass 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 13th and 16th centuries. The concept of recording textures of things is more generally called...
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 fontA baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:The fonts of many Christian denominations are intended for baptisms using a non-immersion method, such as aspersion or affusion. The simplest of these fonts has...
cover which was carved in 1682 by
Grinling GibbonsGrinling Gibbons was a Dutch wood carver who became particularly known for his work in St. Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace, England. He moved to Deptford, England around 1667, and by 1693 had accepted commissions from the royal family and had been appointed as a master...
for ₤12, and which is regarded by many 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 together with many artifacts was discovered many feet below the church in 1926. The altar in the Undercroft is of plain stone from the castle of King
Richard IRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199.He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
at
AthlitChâteau Pèlerin, also known as Atlit Castle and Castle Pilgrim, is located on the northern coast of Israel about 13 km south of Haifa .-The Castle:...
in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
.
All Hallows-by-the-Tower is celebrated and remembered throughout the world in the use of its name both in Dublin (
All Hallows CollegeAll Hallows College is a Roman Catholic college located in Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland. All Hallows is one of six linked colleges of Dublin City University, meaning that the college's degrees are validated and accredited by the university. The college was founded in 1842 and since 1892 has been...
) and in Brisbane, Australia (
All Hallows' SchoolAll Hallows' School is a Catholic day school for girls, located close to the central business district of Brisbane, Queensland.Founded in 1861, the school follows in the tradition of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and currently caters for over 1,300 girls from years 5 to 12...
). It has been the Guild church of Toc-H since 1922. The church was designated a Grade I
listed building on 04 January 1950.
Notable people associated with the church
- John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829. He was also an American diplomat and served in both the Senate and House of Representatives...
, sixth President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
: married 1797
- Judge Jeffreys, notorious "hanging judge": married 1667
- Archbishop of Canterbury
Also see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
William LaudArchbishop William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, beheaded at the Tower: buried 1645
- Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, scholar, author, and statesman....
, beheaded
- John Fisher
Saint John Fisher was an English Roman Catholic Bishop, cardinal and martyr. He shares his feast day with Saint Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and 6 July on the Anglican calendar of saints...
, beheaded at the Tower: buried
- Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes was an English clergyman and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
, baptized
- William Penn
William Penn was an English founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future U.S. State of Pennsylvania. He was known as an early champion of democracy and religious freedom and famous for his good relations and his treaties with...
, founder of PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
: baptised 1644
- Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer was a German-French theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Elsass-Lothringen , at the time in the German Empire...
, made organ recordings at All Hallows
- Philip Clayton
The Reverend Philip Thomas Byard Clayton CH was an Anglican clergyman and the founder of Toc H....
, also known as 'Tubby', Former Vicar and founder of Toc H
- Charles Young
Charles Young was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries....
, organist at the church from 1713-1758.
- Charles John Frederick Lampe
Charles John Frederick Lampe was an English composer and organist, and the son of composer John Frederick Lampe and the singer Isabella Lampe .-Biography:...
, organist at the church from 1758-1767.
- Cecil Thomas, a sculptor who provided several funerary figures between the Wars
External links