All Hallow's Church

All Hallow's Church - London

All Hallow's Church is the oldest Church standing in London.
If only it's walls could speak and tell of the wars, the plague, the great fire and all the other events it has seen in its years of standing sentinel near the Tower of London.

All Hallows by the Tower is the oldest church in the City of London and was founded by the Abbey of Barking in 675AD, 300 years before the Tower of London.

An arch from the Saxon church can still be seen today. In the crypt beneath is a second century Roman pavement, discovered in 1926, evidence of city life on this site for nearly two thousand years.

Located next to the Tower of London, the church has cared for numerous beheaded bodies brought for temporary burial following their executions on Tower Hill, including those of Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Archbishop Laud.

In 1666 the Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane, a few hundred yards from the church. All Hallows survived through the efforts of Admiral Penn (William Penn's father) who, along with his friend Samuel Pepys, watched London burn from the tower of the church. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was baptised in the church and educated in the old schoolroom.

The church suffered extensive bomb damage during World War II and only the tower and the walls remained. The church was rebuilt after the war and was rededicated in 1957.

I found this Church alive with energy. The ghosts of priests long having met their maker was still wandering around the corridors and chanting and saying prayers for the living.

I found myself moved to tears here and went to light a candle not only for my mother and father now many years passed but also for those who have decided to stay and keep watch over the old church for the next 500 years.

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