All Hallows, Barking
| All Hallows-by-the-Tower | |
|---|---|
All Hallows-by-the-Tower (2003)
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| Coordinates: 51°30′34″N 0°04′46″W / 51.5094°N 0.0794°W | |
| Location |
Byward Street London, EC3 |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Churchmanship | Modern Catholic |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Founded | 675 |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I listed building |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of London |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | The Revd Bertrand Olivier |
| Assistant priest(s) | The Revd Sophia Acland |
| Honorary priest(s) | The Revd Dr Fiona Stewart-Darling |
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.
Founded in 675, it is one of the oldest churches in London, and contains inside a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon arch with recycled Roman tiles, the oldest surviving piece of church fabric in the city. (St Pancras Old Church in King's Cross has been a place of Christian worship since the sixth century.)
All Hallows-by-the-Tower was first established in 675 by the Anglo-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".
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Wikipedia