This church was anciently called by some St. Edmund Grass-Church, because of its proximity to the grass market. It was burnt down in the Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren in 1690. In 1864 and 1880 the church was restored. After the Great Fire, the parish of St. Nicholas Acon was annexed. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1150.
The patronage was in the hands of the Prior and Convent of Holy Trinity, London, but Henry VIII. seized it and granted it to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1545, in whose successors it continues.
Houseling people in 1548 were 240.
The present church measures 59 feet in length, 40 feet in breadth, and 57 feet 9 inches in height. It is singular from its standing north and south, but this was forced upon Wren by the position of the ground at his disposal. There are no aisles. The steeple, which rises at the south, consists of a three-storied tower and octagonal lantern and spire, and a pedestal supporting a finial and vane. The lantern is ornamented at the angles by flaming urns, in allusion to the Great Fire. A projecting clock is attached to the face of the second story and is a prominent feature in Lombard Street. The total height is 136 feet.
Chantries were founded here: By Thomas Wyllys for himself and Christian his wife, whose endowment fetched £24 in 1548, when Richard Auncell was chaplain; by and for Matilda at Vane, relict of John Atte Rose, dedicated to SS. John, Peter, and Thomas the martyr, to which John Reynes was admitted chaplain on the resignation of William Belgrave, September 25, 1382; by Richard Toky for himself and Matilda his wife, to which William Howes de Blackolm was admitted chaplain, October 20, 1362; by John Longe, whose endowment fetched £35 in 1548, when William Myller and Edward Mamyn or Hamonde were chaplains.
The old church contained a monument to John Shute, a painter-stainer, who wrote one of the earliest English works on Architecture. He died in 1563. On the east wall a monument commemorates Dr. Jeremiah Milles, Dean of Exeter, President of the Society of Antiquaries, and rector of the united parishes, who died in 1784.
Addison was married in this church to the Dowager Countess of Warwick and Holland in 1716.
This parish was not rich in charitable gifts. Some of the donors were: Richard Jaie of 45s. for bread, etc., for the poor; Mrs. Joan Lowen of 52s.; Mrs. Anne Whitmore, £5.
This church went by the name of Allhallows “Grasse Church” from its proximity to the grass and hay market. It was consumed by the Great Fire, but subsequently rebuilt and completed by Wren in 1694. The parish of Allhallows was one of the thirteen “Peculiars” of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the City of London. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1279.
The patronage of the church was in the hands of: Brihterus, citizen of London, who in 1052 gave it to the Prior and Convent of Christ Church, Canterbury; the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, in whose successors it continued, who first presented to it in 1552.
Houseling people in 1548 were 300.
The interior of the church is constructed on a rectangular plan, without aisles, and with only one pillar, rising at the centre of the west gallery. It is 84 feet in length, 52 feet in breadth, and the height 30 feet. The church contains much good woodwork, the carved oak altar-piece being especially fine. The stone tower, which rises at the south-west, is divided into three stories, the lowest of which has a large doorway at its south face; the second is pierced by a circular-headed window, and the third by square openings with louvres, each surmounted by a cornice. The height of the tower is about 85 feet. The church is entered by a porch and vestibule through a doorway in the tower.
Chantries were here founded by: John Chircheman, citizen, and Richard Tasburgh, late parson of Heylesdon County, Norfolk, July 15, 1392 (Pat. 16 Richard II. p. i. m. 25); John Buck, whose endowment yielded £40 : 6s. in 1548; John Maldon, whose endowment yielded £20 : 3 : 4 in 1548, when Edward Hollonde was priest; William Trystor, who endowed it with £6 : 6 : 8 in 1548.
The most notable of the monuments in this church is to the memory of Simon Horsepoole, Sheriff of London in 1591.
The sole donor of charities seems to have been this same Simon Horsepoole, who appointed to this parish £4 : 4s. per annum.
The original church was indebted for its south aisle, steeple, and other sections to John Warner, Robert Warner, and the Pewterers.
Clothes were found for forty boys, as well as books, and the boys were put out as apprentices by a Society of Langbourn Ward.
The most notable rectors were: Robert Gilbert, Bishop of London, 1436; Thomas Langton (d. 1501), Bishop of St. David’s and Sarum, and of Winchester; Francis Dee (d. 1638), Bishop of Peterborough.
At the corner formed by the junction of Lombard and King William Streets stands the Church of