All Hallows Bread Street
was a church in the Bread Street ward of the City of London. It stood on the
east side of Bread Street, on the corner with Watling Street. First mentioned
in the 13th century, the
Google Street View of All
Hallows Honey Lane
Location: All Hallows Honey Lane, City of London, London, England, United Kingdom. (51.5145°N 0.0935°W).
All Hallows Honey Lane
The Church of All Hallows, Honey Lane was a small Roman Catholic, and later Church of England, parish in the City of London, England. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
History of All Hallows Honey Lane:
The church may have originated as a private chapel associated with a nearby property, though it is not certain which property this might have been. The earliest historical reference to the church dates from the end of the 12th century in a deed (dated between 1191 and 1212) referring to a “Helias presbyter de Hunilane.” Other early spellings include: parochia Omnium Sanctorum de Hunilane (1204–1215), St. Elfegi de Hunilane (1216–1222, the only occurrence of an apparent alternative dedication), All Hallows de Honilane (1279), All Hallows in Honylane (1287), and Parish of Honylane (1297).
A very small parish, it may originally have comprised only the area of those properties which surrounded Honey Lane and the churchyard and then been subsequently enlarged in the early 13th century. Even after this enlargement, the parish of All Hallows, covering only about 1 acre (0.4 hectare) in area, was one of the smallest in the City. There was a suggestion in 1658 that the parish should be united with St. Mary le Bow, but this was dropped and the two remained separate until after the Great Fire.
In the late 12th and early 13th century, the small parish of All Hallows Honey Lane became one of the first centers in the City for the trade of mercery: trading in cloth, typically silk and other fine cloth that was not produced locally. The parish had several small shops and selds, or covered markets, specializing in the trade.
The earliest known patron of the church was Henry de Wokyndon, in the mid-13th century. The advowson then passed to various private owners until 1446, when it was willed to the Grocers' Company. The Grocers' Company retained the advowson until the Great Fire. The Grocers' Company had a custom of appointing learned men as rector of the church, at least until 1540. In the mid-16th century, the Company appointed graduates from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, apparently in strict alternation.
At the time of the Protestant Reformation, the church was known for its Lutheran sympathies. Dr. Robert Forman, rector from 1525 to his death in 1528 and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, over the same period, was a well-known early reformer famous for his sermons and his interest in Lutheran books and doctrines. His curate at All Hallows, Thomas Gerrard (or Garret), himself appointed rector in 1537,[12] was even more active in spreading Lutheran doctrines. In 1540, Gerrard was found guilty of heresy and burnt at the stake in Smithfield with other Protestants.[13] In 1543, other members of the parish were also examined for allegedly holding “heretical” doctrines.
