Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: All Hallows-by-the-Tower, Byward Street, The City EC3R 5BJ. Telephone: 0207 481 2928. Website: ahbtt.org
How much do the tickets cost?
All Hallows-by-the-Tower is free.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 8am to 5pm (Mon-Fri); 10am to 5pm (Sat); 12.30pm to 5pm (Sun).
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to All Hallows-by-the-Tower takes 45 minutes.
Which buses go to All Hallows-by-the-Tower?
Bus routes 15, 42, 78 and 100 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Tower Hill, which connects with the Circle and District lines. It only takes three minutes to walk to All Hallows-by-the-Tower.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of All Hallows-by-the-Tower: Billingsgate Roman House & Baths, Tower of London, Sky Garden, Leadenhall Market, The Monument, HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, Horizon 22, St. Katharine Dock, Royal Exchange, The Shard, Mansion House, Old Operating Theatre, London Mithraeum and Bank of England Museum.
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Email My review of All Hallows-by-the-Tower
The original All Hallows-by-the-Tower was already 300 years old when William the Conqueror was building the Tower of London next-door, making it the oldest church in the City.
When they started executing people on Tower Hill they used to bring the bodies over here for temporary burial, but then somebody had the bright idea of storing some gunpowder in the yard and you can guess what happened next… the bones and stones and fifty surrounding houses first turned into fireworks and then fell like concrete rain on the surrounding streets, killing sixty seven people and burying the rest in rubble.
Damage in the Great Fire of London & The Blitz
Photo: londondrum.com
Photo: londondrum.comWorse was to follow sixteen years later when the Great Fire of London broke out in Pudding Lane. The famous diary writer Samuel Pepys was living close by at the time and described watching the city burn from the top of the tower… “The saddest sight of desolation I ever saw. Everywhere great fires, the fire being spread as far as I could see it.”
Another disaster followed in December 1940 when a German bomb smashed in through the window and bought down the 850-year-old Norman columns. Only the tower and outer walls survived and what remains today is a hotchpotch of walls and vaults that managed to withstand the 1,300 years of burnings and bombings.
Photo: londondrum.com
Photo: londondrum.comYou can immediately tell which bits are old because the stones look as though they’re coated in smoke. The oldest survivor is a 7th-century Saxon arch near the front door, some 16th-century statues in the alcoves, and Grinling Gibbons’ 17th-century font cover.
Roman pavement in the Crypt Museum
But upstairs is just the sideshow. What you need to do is head down the stone stairs at the back until you’re ten feet under London. It turns out that the original church was built on top of something Roman (maybe a house) and the Blitz uncovered a piece of tessellated pavement still in its original position.
Photo: londondrum.comFurther along the corridor they’ve got an interesting model of Londinium and some old Roman bowls, gravestones, pot lids, picks, keys and coins.
After that comes a display case of old church documents including the wedding record of 6th American president John Quincy Adams and baptism papers of famous Quaker William Penn.
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The most unlikely exhibit looks like an old battered barrel but turns out to be the crow’s nest from Quest – the ship on which Shackleton died during his last Antarctic expedition. (The last time I visited they were displaying it upstairs by the Mariners’ Chapel.)
Richard the Lionheart’s Crusades Altar
And just wait until you see the spooky sunken chapel at the end! They call it the Crusades Altar because the stones were donated from Richard I’s Castle Athlit in Palestine – the Templars last stronghold in the Holy Land before they left in 1291.
Photo: londondrum.comI’m not religious in the slightest, but this secret museum is one of the reasons why I enjoy visiting London’s churches. It’s usually deserted when I visit (I don’t think many people know that it exists) and if you stand there in the low light you can hear the rumble coming from the tube trains at Tower Hill.
If you want to see some more of Roman London then I recommend another piece of Roman pavement in the crypt of St. Bride’s, the Temple of Mithras at the London Mithraeum, what’s left of London’s Roman amphitheatre in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery, and the archaelogical remains at Billingsgate Roman House & Baths
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What do you think? (6)
Ask a question, or share your experience of All Hallows-by-the-Tower
Alena We discovered lots of interesting items in the museum, thanks to one of the very friendly wardens who was happy to share her knowledge with us. The church is well worth a visit and we heartily recommend it. (reply)
Paul Do you need to book in advance to see the museum? (reply)
↳Craig Hi Paul. No, you can just walk into the church and down the stairs at the back. You can leave a little donation in the box if you like. The crypt has always been empty when I’ve visited. I’ve only ever seen one or two people down there (I don’t think many tourists even know that it exists). (reply)
Jane We only have limited time in London and are already planning to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge on our third day, do you think it’s worth popping inside the church bearing in mind we don’t have a lot of time? I would like to see the crypt. (reply)
↳Craig Hi Jane. I don’t think the church itself is much to look at, but you could nip into the crypt and see the Roman pavement. The museum is very small – even 15 minutes would be enough. But if you’re really pushed for time then I would probably give it a miss. (reply)
BP I have probably walked past here a hundred times and never thought to look inside but now I will, thank you. (reply)
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