All Hallows Barking

Church near Tower Hill, London. There is no record of its foundation, which took place in Saxon times, possibly as early as the 7th century. The church has a number of brasses, the earliest dating from 1389. It is the guild church of the Toc H movement.

The nave was destroyed by bombing in 1941 (now reconstructed with concrete vaults), but in the destruction major archaeological discoveries were made, parts of a Roman house and precious fragments of two Saxon crosses.

The church was known in former times as All Hallows Barkingchurch. Its affix of Barking suggests an original or early connection with Barking Abbey, Essex, which later owned it over various periods for some 250 years. A Norman church which replaced the original structure was rebuilt in the 13th century. A mortuary crypt discovered in 1926 dates probably from the mid-14th century. There were later additions, including a 17th-century tower from which Samuel Pepys watched the Fire of London.

The Quaker William Penn was baptized here.