Visit All Hallows by the Tower Church, London

If you are intending to visit the Tower of London or Tower Bridge this Easter then make some time to visit All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in London. It houses a C7th Saxon stone arch with recycled Roman tiles, the oldest surviving piece of church fabric in the city. The church has been battered and bruised and has benefited from periodic restoration throughout the years. It is a time capsule of history of the church itself and the City of London. 

All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in London

Buried at the Church

Both John Fisher and the noble Thomas More were both beheaded at the Tower of London in 1535 before being temporarily buried here. 

Archbishop William Laud was found guilty of "endeavouring to subvert the laws, to overthrow the Protestant religion" and was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1645 before being buried here.

The Great Fire of London, 1666

The church narrowly survived the Great Fire of London and owes its survival to Admiral William Penn, father of William Penn of Pensylvania fame who had been christened at the church some 22 yrs earlier. The Admiral had his men from a nearby naval yard demolish the surrounding buildings to create firebreaks. Samuel Pepys is known to have climbed the church's spire to watch the progress of the blaze and what he described as "the saddest sight of desolation".

Font History

One of the most beautiful and important artefacts in the church is the wonderfully font cover carved from limewood. Grinling Gibbons was a master sculptor and wood carver who had worked for Christopher Wren on the choir stalls in St Paul's Cathedral. He was later appointed as master wood carver to George I. For this intricate font cover Grinling Gibbons received the sum of £12. The font itself was carved by hand by a Sicilian prisoner-of-war named Tulipani, and is a memorial to the tunnellers of the Royal Engineers.

The Crypt Museum

The church was built on the site of a former C2nd Roman domestic house which was discovered in 1929. The crypt museum houses a collection of both Roman and Saxon artefacts, church plate and ancient registers dating back to the C16th.

Visit the All Hallows by the Tower website for a virtual tour and opening times.

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