All Hallows Staining
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All Hallows Staining was a Church of England church located at the junction of Mark Lane and Dunster Court in the north-eastern corner of Langbourn ward in the City of London, England, close to Fenchurch Street railway station.<ref>G. Huelin. Vanished Churches of the City of London. Guildhall Library Publication, London, 1996. Template:ISBN</ref> All that remains of the church is the tower, built around AD 1320 as part of the second church on the site. Use of the grounds around the church is the subject of the Allhallows Staining Church Act 2010 (c. v).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The first mention of the church was in the late 12th century.<ref name="Pevsner+Bradley 1998">Template:Cite book</ref> It was named "Staining", which means stone,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to distinguish it from the other churches of All Hallows in the City of London, which were wooden.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The old church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but collapsed five years later in 1671,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Nonspecific leaving only the tower and a small part of the west end.<ref name=godwin>Template:Cite book</ref> It was thought its foundations had been weakened by too many burials in the churchyard close to the church walls. The church was rebuilt in 1674. A 19th century account of the rebuilt church describes the interior as "nothing more than a long narrow room, with a simple cornice around the walls". The medieval tower stood at the northwest corner.<ref name=godwin/>
In 1870 the parish of All Hallows Staining was combined with that of St Olave Hart Street<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Verify inline and All Hallows was demolished, leaving only the tower.<ref name="Pevsner+Bradley 1998"/> The proceeds from the demolition funded the construction of a new church in East End of London, All Hallows, Bow.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Since then the tower has been owned and maintained by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the livery companies of the City of London, whose hall was adjacent to it.
During the Second World War in 1941, St Olave Hart Street was badly damaged by bombs. Between 1948 and 1954, when the restored St Olave's was reopened, a prefabricated church stood on the site of All Hallows Staining. This was known as St Olave Mark Lane. The tower of All Hallows Staining was used as the chancel of the temporary church.
In 1957 the Clothworkers' Company built a church hall for St Olave Hart Street on the site of All Hallows Staining. The old tower stood at the back of a small courtyard next to the new hall; and the remains of the church were designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
Lambe's Chapel Crypt
Until the current redevelopment, the remains of Lambe's Chapel Crypt lay beneath the yard adjacent to the tower. The structure had been moved from the site of Lambe's Chapel in Monkswell Street and rebuilt there in 1872, following the purchase of all Hallows by the Clothworkers Company, which had previously owned the chapel. It is named after William Lamb, once a Master of the company.<ref name=city>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Primary inline The reconstruction was however only about half the size of the original structure and incorporated a great deal of new material.<ref name=city/> It was said to have formed part of the Hermitage of St James on the Wall. These remains were designated Grade II at the same time as the main tower.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
Contemporary description
The contemporary historian John Strype wrote in his two-volume work A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (1720): Template:Quote
Redevelopment scheme
As of 2025 the whole block in which the tower stands is undergoing redevelopment,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> involving the demolition of all other buildings on the site, including the Clothworkers' Hall and St Olave's church hall, as well as the dismantling of the Lambe's Chapel Crypt, and its reconstruction within the lower ground floor of a new office building.<ref name=city/> Proposed work to the tower includes removal of modern infill from arches on the south and east sides.<ref name=city/>