The church of Allhallows Barking stands at the east end of Tower Street near Mark Lane Station. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and all Saints, whence its name. The date of its foundation is unknown, but it is to the convent of Barking that its foundation is probably due, which might carry it back to the end of the seventh century. It was endowed and enlarged by Richard I., Edward I., and Richard III. During the seventeenth century it was repaired five times; it narrowly escaped the Great Fire of 1666. There was extensive restoration during the last century. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1269.
The patronage of the church was in the hands of: The kings of England, while it was a rectory, 1269; the Abbess and Convent of Barking from 1387, when it became a vicarage; the Crown, at the suppression in 1540, who exchanged it with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who presented in 1584, and in whose successors it continues.
Houseling people in 1548 were 800.
The church consists of a nave and chancel together with north and south aisles. It is 108 feet in length, 67 feet in breadth, and in height 35 feet to the ceiling of the nave, but to that of the aisles considerably less. The western portion is older than the chancel, and probably the original building only occupied the site of the present nave. The massive pillars at the west end are of Norman character in contrast to the slender columns of the eastern arches, probably not erected before the fifteenth century. The large east window, in the Late Decorated style, seems to have been left untouched during the numerous alterations of the seventeenth century. The present tower, erected in 1659 after the original had been destroyed by an explosion, is of plain brick, with a turret and weather-vane, and rises above the west end of the nave. The original tower rose from the west end of the south aisle. The total height of it is 80 feet.
Chantries were founded here by: Adam de Blackeneye, citizen, for himself and Cecilia his wife, A.D. 1295 (his will, dated 1310); Thomas Crolys, and Thomas Pilke, before 1365; John Cade; Robert Tate, mayor of London, who died in 1488; Richard I., augmented by Edward I., who erected there an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Edward IV. granted a licence to found a fraternity here (Pat. 9 Edward IV. p. 2. m. 2). This chapel was newly built by Richard III., who founded a college here consisting of a dean and six canons.
Owing to the proximity of the Tower, Allhallows was frequently used for the temporary interment of the remains of those who perished on the scaffold on Tower Hill. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Bishop Fisher, and Archbishop Laud, found here a temporary grave. Humphrey Monmouth, sheriff in 1535, is one of the most notable persons buried here. Allhallows contains the best collection of monumental brasses to be found in any London church. Some of the most noteworthy are: A Flemish brass, in memory of Andrew Evyngar; that of William Thynne, one of the earliest editors of Chaucer’s works; William Armer, of the Clothworkers Company; and the Tonge brass, the oldest in the City. Under the east window of the south aisle is a monument by Peter Scheemakers, the sculptor of several monuments in Westminster Abbey; the name of the Quaker William Penn is associated with this church, where he was baptized in 1644.
Some of the donors of charitable gifts were: Margaret Martin, £1 : 6 : 8 per annum for the poor; William Armer; Alice Polstead, £6 : 13 : 4 per annum; William Haines, £5 per annum. The parish received a very large number of gifts.
A school was founded in this parish, 1692, by Alderman Hickson for twenty boys. There was also a hospital for the insane, in the time of Edward III.
The most notable vicar was Thomas Ravis (d. 1609), who became Bishop of London.
Jewry was formerly called Poor Jewry Street. This street originally consisted of mean tenements, and was greatly improved by the removal of the wall which admitted air into the street and gave space for building. Stow says that “in time of old” there were Jews living in this place, whence its name. In his time there were only a few poor tenements. The name “Poor Jewry” is found in the Records of 1438. As the Jews were banished in 1290, we may therefore conclude that the name was certainly older than that date.