Image credit: It's No Game / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · 2021-01-28 ↗
All Hallows by the Tower: 1,300 Years Beside the Tower
Tower Hill / Byward Street · St Paul’s → Tower Hill · Saxon London / Roman remains / executions / Pepys
Story
All Hallows by the Tower does something remarkable on a City walk: it allows you to move chronologically backwards from modern London towards the beginnings of the Christian city. The church was founded in 675 by Barking Abbey, around three hundred years before the Tower of London. A Saxon arch still survives in the building, while the crypt contains a second-century Roman pavement discovered in 1926. Its position beside Tower Hill also brought it into contact with darker episodes. After executions on the hill, some beheaded bodies were brought here temporarily; the church’s history includes figures such as Thomas More, John Fisher and Archbishop Laud. In 1666, when the Great Fire began nearby in Pudding Lane, All Hallows narrowly survived. Admiral Penn helped organise its defence, while Samuel Pepys watched the fire from the church tower. William Penn, future founder of Pennsylvania, had been baptised here. The church was badly damaged again during the Second World War and rebuilt. If it is open, the crypt is the key: one descent reveals Roman, Saxon, medieval and modern London almost on top of one another. If closed, the stop still works from Byward Street, with the Tower of London almost opposite and Tower Hill beside you.
What to look for
The Saxon arch, the Roman pavement in the crypt and the visual relationship with Tower Hill and the Tower of London.
Secret detail
It predates the Tower of London by about three centuries and preserves Roman remains beneath a church of Saxon origin.
Where exactly
Byward Street beside Tower Hill. The pin marks All Hallows’ main entrance.
Orientation
From the entrance first look towards the Tower; if open, then descend to the crypt.
Why it matters
It compresses almost two thousand years of London occupation into one stop and closes the route where the City meets Tower Hill.
Access & opening
Exterior always visible; check current church and undercroft opening before entering.
This stop works from the public exterior; no paid or interior entry is required.
We never show live status. Check opening hours before you go.
Accessibility
Map source indicates wheelchair access to the church; verify crypt access separately.