Church of All Saints

All Saints Church stands in West Ham, a district of east London. It is a Grade I listed parish church whose origins reach back to at least the late 12th century. The present building contains blocked clerestory windows from that time, and fragments of earlier fabric survive in the nave and crossing. Gilbert Foliot, bishop of London, appointed a vicar here soon after Henry II confirmed the church to Stratford Langthorne Abbey in 1181–82. The abbey held the advowson until the Dissolution, when the parish was reunited under All Saints. A north chapel was added in the mid 15th century, followed by a south chapel, and wall paintings discovered during 19th-century restorations probably date from the same period. The church was repeatedly enlarged to serve a growing population. In the 18th century galleries were added on three sides and a new font installed in 1707. George Gilbert Scott carried out major works in 1847–49 and again in 1865–69, removing galleries and inserting new windows. Scott also designed a reredos and a second font was placed at the west end in 1869. By the 19th century the parish had spawned several daughter churches, including St Mary’s Plaistow and St John’s Stratford, which later became independent parishes. Inside, visitors find the 1707 baptismal font bearing the names of three churchwardens, reflecting the ancient division of the parish into three wards. The tower houses a clock made in 1857 to Lord Grimthorpe’s design, which served as the prototype for Big Ben. The nave arcades and chancel arch show the 13th- and 15th-century rebuildings, while the yellow stock brick refacing of 1800–03 gives the south aisle and chapel a lighter appearance. The churchyard and surrounding streets of West Ham preserve the memory of a building that has stood at the heart of the community for more than eight centuries.