Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1350 to 1979, There has been a church at Tudeley since the beginning of the seventh century, one of only four in the Weald at that time. The majority of the oldest existing fabric was built in the later medieval period, although some of the sandstone footings of the nave and tower may date from before the Norman conquest. A church at Tudeley is also mentioned in the Domesday Book under its alternative name of Tivedale. A list of incumbents hanging in the church begins in 1251. The extant brick tower was constructed in 1765 and in 1798 the church was described as being rebuilt. In 1871-5 Robert Medley Fulford rebuilt the nave and added the north aisle, and in 1885 the chancel arch was constructed. Some alterations were carried out in 1967 that were associated with the re-glazing of the church windows designed by Marc Chagall, of which there are twelve in total. The earliest window was installed in 1967 and commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady d'Avigdor-Goldsmid to commemorate their daughter, who was drowned in a sailing accident.The plan of the church is of a chancel, nave, and west tower, with a three-bay north aisle and south porch. The chancel and the part of nave below sill level are built from sandstone while the tower and upper section of the nave are built from brick. The chancel has angle buttresses and a round-headed east window. The nave is symmetrical with 19th century brick buttresses and the south porch is gabled.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1350 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 64 NW CAPEL TUDELEY LANE (off)
1/311 Church of All Saints 20.10.54 GV I
Church. Late medieval or earlier origins, tower of 1765, church described as "lately rebuilt" in 1798 (Hasted), thorough rebuilding of nave and addition of north aisle in 1875 by Robert Medley Fulford of Devon (Church Guide), chancel arch 1885, some alteration of 1967 associated with the beginning of a programme of re-glazing the church with windows designed by Marc Chagall. Chancel sandstone brought to course with sandstone dressings; nave sandstone blocks to sill level, Flemish bond brick above; tower Flemish bond brick with blue headers on sandstone footings, north aisle sandstone rubble; slate roofs.
Plan: Chancel, nave, west tower, 3-bay north aisle, south porch. The chancel masonry is probably medieval and Pevsner suggests that the sandstone footings of the nave may be the foundations of the medieval church. In 1765 an appeal was made for £1,125 for the rebuilding (Pevsner) and the form of the nave and chancel barrel roofs may date from the 1760s phase. Fulford's contribution was to re-gothicize the church with a mixture of Decorated and Perpendicular style windows, and to add the north aisle in a late C13/early C14 style with a baptistry at the west end. The east window was altered in 1967 for the insertion of glass to commemorate Sarah Venetia d'Avigdor Goldsmid. The church was restored in the late 1960s and 1970s, the work supervised by Robert Potter (Church Guide).
Exterior: The chancel has angle buttresses with set-offs and a round-headed east window dated 1967, the gable evidently rebuilt at this date. The south side has a C19 2-light Decorated style window to the east with flush tracery, trefoil-headed lights and a quatrefoil in the head. One-light C19 trefoil- headed Decorated style window to the west. Between the windows an arched moulded priests' doorway with a hoodmould and C19 door of overlapping planks with strap hinges. The north side of the chancel has 2 one-light Decorated style trefoil-headed windows. Symmetrical nave with C19 brick buttresses with stone set-offs to left and right. 2 3-light C19 Perpendicular style 3-light traceried windows with hoodmoulds and uncarved label stops. C19 gabled porch with deep eaves and a peg-tile roof with a coursed sandstone base below a timber structure with glazed cusped lights. Tall segmental-headed outer doorway; moulded Tudor arched inner doorway with a C19 plank and cover strip door. North aisle with a lean-to roof, an angle buttress at the east corner. The westernmost bay (the baptistry) marked off by buttresses with set-offs. String course below the Decorated style windows: 2-light east and west windows each with trefoil-headed lights below a flush tracery quatrefoil. Centre window fo the aisle 3-light, outer windows 2-light, all with trefoil-headed lights. 2-stage west tower with a plain parapet and a tile-hung bell-shaped spirelet. Diagonal buttresses with stone footings and stone copings to the set-offs; string course above the bottom stage. The west face has a recessed C19 or C20 2-leaf door with a Tudor arch and cover strips. The north and south faces have round-headed belfry windows, the north face also has a round- headed window to the bottom stage and a C19 trefoil-headed window below the belfry opening.
Interior: Plastered walls. 1885 moulded chancel arch with a hoodmould and carved label stops by Wadmore and Baker (Pevsner), springing from engaged shafts with waterleaf capitals and bases. 3-bay 1875 north aisle with octagonal sandstone piers on moulded bases with moulded caps and 3-centred moulded arches. The first pier from the west has an odd corbel projection on the south side. Plain round-headed tower arch. Plain barrel ceilings to the nave and chancel, the nave ceiling marbled in green and yellow in 1967 by Robert Potter, possibly restoring existing C18 marbled decoration. The chancel has a presumably C19 sedilia on the south side formed by dropping the sill of the eastern window. Plain altar table of the C20. Communion rail with turned balusters, described by Pevsner as late C17 but perhaps with a later handrail. The nave has a timber drum pulpit with some re-used C17 panels with a design of scratch-moulded intersecting triangles. Set of plain C20 benches. The font, in the westernmost bay of the nroth aisle, is probably C19: octagonal on a stem with a moulded base, the faces of the bowl carved with blind tracery. The tower preserves original C18 ceiling beams and joists and includes 2 C19 windows re-sited and now artificially-lit from behind, when the Chagall glass was introduced, one probably by Clayton and Bell of about 1880, the other circa 1860s. Royal Arms in a nowy-headed frame over the tower arch.
Monuments: Monument to George Fane, died 1571 in the north wall of the chancel. A tomb-chest decorated with strapwork panels divided by pilasters. Above the chest a canopy with Ionic columns and an entablature, noted by Pevsner as being an early example of correct classical detail. Inscription carved in relief on the chest. Some original colour survives. Brass to Thomas Stydolf, died 1475, with 2 small figures. A purbeck marble matrix is all that survives of a second brass. The nave has 2 C18 marble wall monuments, one on either side of the south door.
Stained Glass: A remarkable glazing programme of European importance to the designs of Marc Chagall. The east window, of 1967, is the earliest and was commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady D'Avigdor Goldsmid to commemorate their daughter, who was drowned in a sailing accident in 1963. The window cames are irregular, to avoid the usual grid effect. The lower half of the window is blue and shows a girl floating in the sea with mourning figures around. The crucifixion, mostly yellow, is shown above, with a rearing horse at the foot of the cross. The patron commissioned a further 7 windows for the aisle and nave, installed in 1974. These are abstract designs with wonderful colours, mostly yellow on the south side of the church, blue in the north aisle. In 1985 a further 4 windows for the chancel by Chagall were installed, mostly blue. Source Pevsner, West Kent and the Weald, (1978 edn.). Listing NGR: TQ6179545584 (1)

Description from record TQ 64 NW 10 :
[TQ 62154540] All Saints Church [NAT] (2) The church at Tudeley, dedicated to All Saints, has been lately rebuilt of brick. [Author gives details of patronage, advowson, etc., from 1239] (3) This church is at present used for ecclesiastical purposes. The nave and tower alone have been rebuilt in brick upon the original stone foundations which remain to a height of 1.0m - 2.0m. The north aisle is modern. The chancel is of stone except for the upper part of the east wall, rebuilt in brick it has been refenestrated but there is an original pointed doorway in the south wall. (4) No change. (5) Parish Church of All Saints. Grade B. Norman foundation (for full description see list). (6) Church of All Saints. Late medieval or earlier origins, tower of 1765, church described as `lately rebuilt' in 1798 (Hasted), throrough rebuilding of nave and addition of north aisle in 1875, chancel arch 1855, some alteration in 1967. Grade I. (7-10)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> OS 6" 1907-38 (OS Card Reference). SKE48320.

<3> History of Kent 5 (1798) 258 (Hasted) (OS Card Reference). SKE44123.

<4> F1 ASP 07-JAN-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE41980.

<5> F2 CFW 16-JAN-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE43245.

<6> DOE (HHR) Tonbridge RD Kent Sept 1949 34 (OS Card Reference). SKE40653.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 64 NW 10 - January, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3247.

<8> Field report for monument TQ 64 NW 10 - January, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3248.

<9> DOE (HHR) District of Tunbridge Wells, Kent (Bidborough et al) 24th Aug 1990 304-305. (OS Card Reference). SKE40527.

<10> Diocese of Rochester (Tim Tatton-Brown), 1994, Tudeley and Capel, All Saints:Diocesan church survey (Unpublished document). SKE29526.

Sources and further reading