Beneath a church just steps from the Tower of London lies a free museum packed with artefacts spanning London's history. The museum is housed in the crypt of All Hallows by the Tower Church on Byward Street, a short walk from Tower Hill Underground station.
Discovered by TikTok Influencer
Jack Chesher, a TikTok creator with nearly 250,000 followers, recently highlighted the museum. In his video, he said: "Not many people know that, literally minutes from the Tower of London, is an amazing underground museum, and it's totally free. This is one of the things I always recommend people to go and do whilst visiting London."
The church was founded in 675 AD. Chesher noted: "The church nave itself is wonderful and worth a look around. But if you go down these stairs, you'll find yourself in the old church crypt. Down here you realise that London really is a city built on a city built on a city."
Roman and Saxon Artefacts
Exhibits include a section of tessellated flooring from a Roman villa, a Roman-era gravestone discovered nearby, and a model of Roman London dating to the 1960s. The crypt also contains vaults once used to hold bodies, now serving as a mini chapel. According to the church's website, many layers of archaeology were revealed during the Blitz when the church was gutted by incendiary bombs and later restored.
The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but required substantial reconstruction after World War II bombing. The museum occupies part of the original Saxon church and includes a Roman tessellated floor from a late second-century domestic house, a collection of Roman and Saxon artefacts, church plate, and registers dating to the 16th century.
Other Notable Exhibits
Further items include the crow's nest from the Quest, the vessel used by Sir Ernest Shackleton on his final Antarctic expedition in 1921. The church holds a 4.6 out of 5 rating on Tripadvisor, with many visitors praising the museum.
One visitor from 2014 said: "We found this little church by accident after visiting the Tower of London. It is very close. The church is the oldest in London and has many artefacts with good explanations. The crypt museum is very interesting with many different rooms. It contains a Knights Templar altar, ancient registers showing the baptism of William Penn and John Adams, a Roman mosaic floor, and an ancient chapel."
Another visitor wrote: "We walked to The Tower of London to view the Ceramic Poppy display but it wasn't there. By pure chance my wife spotted All Hallows By The Tower. The crypt area underneath is amazing with so many artefacts. We spent nearly an hour wandering about and taking in the history. It's free to enter, though there is a donation box."
