All Hallows-by-the-Tower, Saxon church in City of London, England
All Hallows-by-the-Tower is a church in the City of London, close to the Tower of London. The building shows a mix of Anglo-Saxon masonry, medieval additions, and postwar rebuilding, with a seventh-century round arch in the nave and Roman bricks in the crypt.
The building was founded in 675 and remained intact during the Great Fire of 1666 because Admiral William Penn had nearby buildings torn down. During World War II the church suffered heavy bomb damage, and archaeologists discovered Saxon and Roman remains beneath the floor during the clearance work.
The church keeps close ties to the sea: models of ships hang as votive offerings inside. Each year the parish walks its boundaries in the Beating the Bounds ceremony, and a single rose, the Knollys Rose, is carried to the Lord Mayor of London on a cushion, a duty dating from a 1381 court ruling. Tubby Clayton, vicar from 1922, founded Toc H here, and his ashes rest in an urn behind the altar cross.
The church opens Monday to Friday between 8 and 18, and weekends from 10 to 17, near Tower Hill underground station. Going down into the crypt requires stairs without a lift, and lighting below is dim, so allow time for your eyes to adjust.
The churchyard closed to burials in 1850 and has served as a public green since 1875; Tower Hill Terrace and Tower Place were later built over parts of it. Legend holds that the heart of Richard the Lionheart was buried in the churchyard.
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