All Saints Church, West Ham

One of the founding endowments for the Abbey was land that had belonged to "Ranulph the priest", implying the existence of a parish church.

The first concrete reference is a charter of 1181-82 by Henry II of England which confirmed the church of West Ham to the abbey.

Gilbert Foliot, bishop of London also assigned a vicar to the parish church around the same time.

The nave was largely rebuilt halfway through the 13th century, adding five-bay arcades on the north and south sides.

Its crossing was demolished around 1400 to add two bays to the nave's east end - the chancel arch was rebuilt and the west tower added at the same time.

Two curiosities are worth noting in the present church: the baptismal font, dated 1707, which bears the name of three churchwardens instead of the usual two (the ancient parish was once divided into three wards and the custom continues); and the other is the clock in the tower, made in 1857 to Lord Grimthorpe's design, and the prototype of Big Ben.

There are few traces of Stratford Langthorne Abbey. Shown is the keystone from the charnel house door, now in All Saints.