All Hallows Staining

All Hallows Staining stands in the City of London, near Fenchurch Street station. Only its medieval tower, built around 1320, remains from the church. The tower once belonged to a wooden church named for its stone construction. The church survived the Great Fire of 1666 but collapsed in 1671. Rebuilt in 1674, it was demolished in 1870 when its parish merged with St Olave Hart Street. The tower has been owned by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers since 1870. During the Second World War, it served as the chancel for a temporary church on the site. The tower and crypt were later listed as Grade I and Grade II buildings. The Clothworkers also moved and rebuilt Lambe’s Chapel Crypt nearby in 1872. Visitors find the tower standing at the back of a small courtyard. The crypt’s remains, once part of a 14th-century hermitage, lie beneath the yard. A 19th-century account described the church interior as a long narrow room with a simple cornice. The site is now being redeveloped, with the tower and crypt to be preserved in new surroundings.