Frequently Asked Questions

Most questions are answered on this site. Here are some FAQs:

When is All Saints' Church open?

Go here.

Should I phone up to check if it's REALLY open?

Without being at all unwelcoming, we'd encourage you to resist. We are a tiny parish (just 70 on the parish roll), and - apart from our priests, who are paid less than you can possibly imagine - everyone here is an unpaid volunteer.

We get tens of thousands of visitors a year, and if everyone phoned us first we'd collapse in a week.

When is the best time to visit? Must it be a sunny day in summer?

Surprisingly, wintertime and cloudy days are good times to come. The yellow south-facing windows can be rather bleached out in full sun, and are at their best on a cloudy day.

Winter light is great on the windows, as it slants in almost horizontally. The same is true of summer mornings and evenings.

Whatever season or time of day you come, the windows have something to offer; don't make a special effort to come in summer sunshine.

Is the calendar up to date?

Yes. Or at least, mainly yes.

The calendar you see on the website is linked in real time to the computer of the volunteers who maintain it.

So as soon as an event is booked, it appears on the website calendar. If we know about something, it appears instantly on the calendar.

There are two small caveats:

i) the calendar volunteers occasionally take a holiday (in which case the calendar may not be maintained for a week); and

ii) the calendar volunteers are not psychic: occasionally things happen unannounced - in which case, they're as much a surprise to us as they are to you!

Why should I leave a donation when we all know that the Church of England is incredibly wealthy?

Sadly, your information is out of date. The parish receives NO funding from the CofE. Nor do we get any funding from government.

More than that, we actually have to pay into the coffers of the central CofE, through the euphemistically-named Parish Share. Without the donations of our visitors, we would be utterly broke, and the church would probably close. A couple of quid from you REALLY helps us.

Is there access for wheelchair users?

Go here.

Are there any postcards or books for sale in the church?

Go here.

 Why did Chagall put windows into this tiny Kentish church?

Go here. Or watch a short video here.

 Where is All Saints' Church?

Go here.

Can I bring a group or a coach party?

Go here.

Is there plenty of parking?

Yes. Go here to see a picture.

 Can I get married in your church?

Go here.

 I am researching my family tree. How can I access Tudeley, Capel and Five Oak Green parish records?

All parish records are held at the Kent Archives at Maidstone. We don't have copies, nor can we help with genealogy queries - sorry!

HOWEVER... you can consult the list of burials at St Thomas a Becket Church Capel, compiled by Christine Langridge, from our downloads page.