Another in the occasional series on churches built by Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 that have been lost  since.

All Hallows the Great

All Hallows the Great was originally built in around 1235.  It was burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666,  and rebuilt by Wren in 1677-84, only to be demolished, to allow for road-widening and development, between 1876 and 1894,  when the parish was merged with St Michael Paternoster Royal.

Essentially nothing now remains of the church at its former site, other than the name, which lives on in that of Allhallows Lane (the last vestige, the churchyard, having been lost during the construction of the City Fire Station).  Salvaged statues of Moses and Aaron, and a carved figure of Charity, survive in St Michael Paternoster Royal.   A salvaged chancel screen also survives,  in St Margaret, Lothbury.

Site of All Hallows the Great

Lost Wren Churches

The first in an occasional series on churches built by Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 that have been lost  since (mostly demolished on the orders of  our own  town planners – in some cases justifiably, for safety reasons; in others, at least arguably  so,  either for security reasons, or to allow for site redevelopment; but in still others,  simply because they had been deemed, under the incomprehensibly philistine Union of Benefices Act of 1860, to be surplus to requirements).

All Hallows Bread Street plaques, St Mary-le-Bow

All Hallows Bread Street was originally built in the thirteenth  century, sometime before 1291 (it is mentioned in Pope Nicholas IV’s “Taxatio Ecclesiastica” of that year).  It was burnt down   in the Great Fire of 1666,  and rebuilt by Wren in 1681-98, only to be  demolished to make way for warehouses in 1877,  when the parish was merged with St Mary-le-Bow.   A plaque on the wall of St Mary-le-Bow and some parish boundary markers survive  at  its former site.  The salvaged pulpit also survives,  in St Vedast, Foster Lane.  John Milton was christened here in 1608.

Lost Wren Churches