The Tower of London

by Arthur Poyser

On one of the pillars of this aisle a sadly dilapidated brass plate commemorates “William Armer, Governor of the Pages of Honor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, who died in 1560.” His wife’s burial is entered in the registers against May 1, 1563. She is the lady to whom, according to the Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VIII., payments were made “for cambric and makyng y^e King’s shirts.”

The daily services of the church were continued in this aisle without intermission during the progress of the work of restoration.

Choir.—As we walk back towards the east end and turn into the choir portion of the chancel we may notice two quaint semicircular seats at the foot of the pillars on the altar steps. These forms were made out of the wood of the old roof removed in 1814. The choir stalls, of solid oak, are comparatively recent additions to the building and bear some fine carving representing “the fellowship of the angelic with the animal world.” These stalls are constructed to accommodate the clergy of the Mission College of Allhallows Barking as well as the members of the choir. The seat of the Warden of the College and Vicar of the parish is that which faces east. In mentioning the vicar and clergy, we may here fitly recall many of the men who have served at the altar of Allhallows and whose names have not been lost to fame. There is preserved a tabular list of the vicars since the presentation to the living of Wm. Colles on March 2, 1387. Chaderton, thirteenth vicar, was, as we have already seen, appointed dean of the “free chaple of Berkynge” by Richard III. Carter, appointed in 1525, was a friend of Wolsey’s, and resigned in the year of the Cardinal’s fall, 1530. Dawes, 1542-1565, was the first Protestant incumbent and possessed many of the attributes of the Vicar of Bray as sketched in the verses of the old song; Wood, 1584-1591, was the first vicar appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury; Ravis, vicar from 1591 to 1598, was one of the translators of the present Authorised Version of the Bible; as was also his successor at Allhallows, Dr. Tighe. The twenty-fifth vicar, Edward Layfield, appointed in 1635, was a nephew of Archbishop Laud. “Layfield was deprived in 1642 [by an ordinance of the House of Commons] under circumstances of considerable barbarity. He was interrupted during the performance of divine service, dragged out of church [while the walls of the old church resounded to the shrieks of an infuriated mob within and without the building], set on a horse with his surplice not removed, the Common Prayer Book tied round his neck; and in this manner forced to ride through the city. Then was he thrown into prison ... and no provision made for his maintenance whatever.” Layfield was restored to his living on the return of Charles II. His contemporaries describe him as “a man of generous and noble spirit, great courage and resolution, and much respected in his parish, though a High Churchman.” Vicar during the Plague and the Fire, he died in 1680, and was buried here in the chancel. Dr. Hickes, appointed in 1681, was “one of the most remarkable and highly educated men of his generation,” and, on the accession of William and Mary, “refused to take the oaths, was deprived of all his preferments,” and became a Non-juror. He was a friend of Pepys, and that volatile product of the Restoration period often lamented Dr. Hickes’ long and dull sermons. Hickes attended Pepys as he lay on his deathbed, and many references to this Vicar of Allhallows will be found in the Diary.

The present body of mission clergy attached to the church have their College in Trinity Square, on Tower Hill. They do excellent work for the Church at large, travel to all parts of England constantly, and to far parts of the world occasionally to preach and conduct missions. In this way the revenue of Allhallows—a seemingly large sum to the “man in the street” (who usually remains there, to scoff at “useless city churches”)—is taken up to the last penny for this most valuable and useful work. The College was established in 1883, and many men known far and wide for their work in the Church—I may instance Dr. Collins, now Bishop of Gibraltar—have been members of it. Its first Head was Dr. A. J. Mason, now Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, to whom Allhallows is indebted for the restoration of the north porch and the gift of the upper schoolroom. His successor, the present Warden, Dr. Arthur W. Robinson, has since carried on the arduous duties of the College and has brought all departments of the work in connection with Allhallows as a parish church up to a point of remarkable efficiency. Never was the old building more zealously served than it is now, and never has it been better used by parishioners and by others whose daily work lies in the City. A numerous congregation, consisting of those who come up from the eastern suburbs by the early trains and have an hour to spare before beginning work, assembles here every week-day morning at eight o’clock. The service consists of prayers, a hymn, a short address, and an organ recital. The Sunday congregations are large for a City church, especially in the evenings, and on two or three occasions during the year the church is crowded beyond the actual seating capacity—an inspiring sight when viewed from the organ loft.

Chancel and Nave.—In the chancel, between the choir stalls, may be seen the James brass, of 1591, with figure about three feet in length; also the brass, of 1612, to “Mary, wife of John Burnell, Merch^t.” Burnell presented a communion table to the church in 1613. The last brass, but the most famous and artistic of all, is that large square sheet of latten which is set in the pavement to the west of the Litany desk. It dates back to 1530 and is a memorial of “Andrewe Evyngar, Cityzen and Salter, and Ellyn his wife.” The Puritan defacements are only too plain, yet, in spite of this, it is possible to decipher the beaten-out lettering, which ran: “Of youre charite praye for the soules of ... on whoos soulys Jesu have m’cy, Amen.” This brass is one of the finest specimens of Flemish workmanship in England. Its only rivals are brasses at Ipswich and at St. Albans. It is unnecessary to describe it in detail; it can best be studied from the framed “rubbing” which stands behind the choir screen in the South Aisle.

The very fine Jacobean pulpit was erected before England had a single colony. There it has stood during the rise of the British Empire, and it has survived many a storm in Church and State. Though the pulpit dates back to 1613 the sounding-board above was erected in 1638, and is termed, in the Vestry minutes of that year, “the new pulpitt hedd.” This sounding-board is inscribed on each of its sides with the motto: “Xtm pdicam crucifixum,” which reminds us that whether the preacher in that pulpit looks south, or east, or west, his one subject is to be Christ crucified. The fine sword-rests, rising above the choir screen behind the Vicar’s stall, were erected by successive Lord Mayors and bear their respective crests, with the City coat-of-arms. The one on the south side, the smallest of the three, was erected in 1727 by Lord Mayor Eyles. That in the centre commemorates the mayoralty of Slingsby Bethel, Esq., in 1755, while the remaining one was put up in 1760 when Sir Thomas Chitty, a parishioner of Allhallows, was appointed chief citizen. After examining the graceful ironwork of these sword-rests, the delicate wrought-iron design beneath the pulpit-rail should by no means be passed over. The choir screen itself, as well as the screen behind the churchwardens’ pews at the back of the church, is worthy of study by all who are interested in old wood-carving.

West End.—From north to south porch, until the 1904 restoration, there extended an ugly, heavy gallery, which made the entrance to the church, from either side, very gloomy. Now the former organ-loft is rebuilt and the interior of the church, by this alteration, regains the open appearance of earlier times. In the entrance-chamber of the tower there is preserved a very fine leaden water-cistern on which appear the date 1705 and the letters A·H·B, the monogram of the church, while in the tower itself there hangs a peal of finely toned bells, eight in number, which in 1813 replaced the bells hung, in 1659, when the present tower was new.

The first organ in this church was that one, already spoken of, built by Anthony Duddyngton in 1519. Though all trace of this very early instrument is lost, the original indenture still remains. Dr. Hopkins says, “This is the earliest known record of the building of an organ in England.” In 1675-77 the present organ-case was erected by Thomas and Renatus Harris, and the organ then consisted of great and choir manuals only; but a third manual, the swell, was added in the eighteenth century. Hatton describes the organ-case as he saw it in 1708 as “enriched with Fames, and the figures of Time and Death, carved in basso relievo and painted, above.” The organ was improved by Gerard Smith in 1720, and again in 1813. It was again overhauled and enlarged by Bunting in 1872 and 1878, was partially burnt in 1880, and “restored” (very badly indeed) in 1881. On Sunday, 3rd November 1907, during Evensong, this ancient instrument broke down and was not used again. The choral services were sung by the choir either entirely unaccompanied or supported by a pianoforte played in the chancel. The instrument is now being rebuilt by Messrs. Harrison and Harrison, of Durham, and this well-known firm have the problem before them of preserving what is of historic interest in the old organ and incorporating that in the newer and more efficient mechanism of the organs of to-day. A complete list of organists of this church, from 1676 to the present day, has been preserved.

The large and fully equipped music-room at the north-west angle of the building is where the daily practices of the choristers are held. In addition to the fittings incidental to the work of the choir, it contains some interesting photos of the church and two old parish plans. The royal arms above the door, on the side of the organ-loft, used, in Georgian days, to hang above the altar. A spacious music-, or school-room lies over the north porch, and this portion of the building, though modern, is quite in keeping with the ancient church to which it is attached. Of that old church we now take leave. Though great the history it has already made, there is perhaps as great a history for it yet to make.