All Hallows is a Grade 1 listed building and has played a leading part in the life and events of the City of London for more than 13 centuries.

The Saxon Abbey of Barking, led by St Ethelburga, founded the church in 675AD, and an arch from the original stone church remains. This incorporates reused Roman stones and floor tiles from the deserted Roman Londinium.

Beneath the church is also the paved floor of a Roman house, from the 1st century CE, which was discovered whilst investigating subsidence in 1926.

Located next to the Tower of London, the church has cared for numerous beheaded bodies, including those of Sir Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Archbishop William Laud. In the Great Fire of London in 1666, All Hallows survived through the efforts of Admiral Sir William Penn of the nearby Navy Office, who watched the fire from the tower of the church, along with diarist Samuel Pepys.

Historical Church registers on display in the Crypt Museum show the baptism of William Penn, son of the Admiral and founder of Pennsylvania, in 1644 and also the marriage of John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the USA, to Louisa Johnson in 1797.

In 1940 the church was bombed and only the tower, outer walls and Crypt remained, but a new foundation stone was laid in 1948 by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and she also attended the rededication service in 1957. The vicar at the time, who worked tirelessly in rebuilding the church, was "Tubby" Clayton, founder of Toc H. The movement's Lamp of Maintenance still stands in the Lady Chapel, and the founder's effigy and ashes both lie in the church. 

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