Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Allhallows
Allhallows or Hoo Allhallows comes from the Old English ‘hōh’ meaning a ‘heel; sharp projecting piece of ground’ and ‘hālga’ as a ‘saint’; therefore a ‘spur of land’ with the affix from the church of All Saints.
Allhallows parish church is dedicated to All Saints. The Normans built it in the
12th century, and rebuilt in 1252 as a Chapel-
The Romans used the nearby Yantlet creek for trade, although due to silting its viability
as a trading route diminished. Sited at the mouth of the creek is the London Stone,
erected by the Victorians, it replaced a much earlier marker of 1285. The marker,
which has its opposite number on the Essex shoreline, depicts the boundary of the
City of London's conservators administration over the river, as granted by Edward
I’s charter of 1285.
After the First World War, the Kent and London County Councils
planned to redevelop Allhallows, to rival that of Blackpool. According to newspaper
reports at the time, the amusement park was to be four times bigger than the one
at the northern resort. There would also be a zoo, yachting centre and a lido with
artificial waves, the first such pool in Europe. The development, which would have
covered more than two and a half square miles, had plans to include a holiday camp,
restaurants, theatres and cinemas. Unfortunately, due primarily to the outbreak of
the Second World war, the councils eventually abandoned the project.
However, Allhallows-
On the morning of 15 October 1940, Pilot Officer J W Lund bailed out of his Spitfire R6642 following an altercation with a Messerschmitt Bf109. The aircraft crashed on the shoreline of the River Medway near Allhallows at 11.50am. The Navy rescued the pilot, although his aircraft remained a wreck on the tidal mudflats of the village until the summer of 1998.