A huge thank you to Danny Meaden and Karl Wilkinson from Multiplex and Campbell MacDougall from Yard Nine for taking us around the amazing 50 Fenchurch site on 3rd February 2026 – the day we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple. How wonderful to ‘present’ ourselves to two ‘temples’ in our parish in one day!
50 Fenchurch will offer a 36 storey tower, with a public viewing platform as well as a new livery hall for our patrons, The Clothworkers’ Company.
Karl, Danny and Campbell explained how they are overcoming the challenge of building around the medieval tower of All Hallows Staining, which is all that remains of the parish church, now incorporated into our parish.
Amongst other amazing history connected to the church is the story that before becoming Queen, Elizabeth I visited the tower to pay homage to the bellringers there, who she said kept her spirits up during her imprisonment in the Tower of London. She bought them new bellropes and went to the pub next door for lunch!
We all gained a new appreciation of the work that construction professionals do and will have a lot more to think about the next time we hear The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders in church!
Brian Grumbridge, Churchwarden and Parish Clerk of All Hallows Staining, said: “A really excellent presentation on 50 Fenchurch Street from Danny and his colleagues. It gave me an insight into what is a really challenging project with sustainability in mind. It is good to know the All Hallows Staining Tower is being well looked after and that when the work is finished in Autumn 2028 it (and the Lambe’s Crypt Chapel) will be open to the public. It is also beneficial to know that something like 40% of annual rainfall will be recycled and that on three sides of the 36-storey building will be plants and greenery and that there will be a public terrace and winter garden.”
Thomas Barclay Matchett (aka ‘The London Storyteller) a member of the Parish Council wrote: “I love heritage, history and engineering. The reality, I feel is that these projects often unearth more history for London whilst creating new modern spaces in the process. Our city is not a museum, it is a 2000 year old start up. Some really interesting archaeological finds were revealed in the presentation too. I thank Karl, Danny and Campbell for their hospitality and was impressed how much time they spent with us – that was no small commitment. The development is an impressive use of pioneering engineering and it seems that it will offer renewed lease of life for the tower of All Hallows Staining which has been standing without the rest of the church for 150 years.”
