UK

Medieval London church lifted into the sky as office is built underneath

26 September 2025
https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/09/26/10/26/Medieval-church-lifted-45ft-above-ground-to-make-way-for-new-office-building-in-London.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&crop=3%3A2
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A medieval church tower in London was lifted 45ft above the ground to make way for a new skyscraper.

Footage taken on Tuesday (23 September) shows the more than 700-year-old Tower of All Hallows Staining Church balancing on stilts above the construction site on 50 Fenchurch Street.

A ÂŁ1bn office tower for French insurer Axa will be built right next to the church, which will be the centrepiece of a new public square once reinstalled.

More than 125,000 tonnes of earth were removed from underneath the Grade I-listed building to make way for the 650,000 square foot office skyscraper.

Rob Samuel, Head of Development at AXA Investment Managers, said the excavation works around the church are a “never-seen-before feat of engineering”.