All Saints Church in Tudeley,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, is the only church in the world that has all its windows in

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

History

A place of worship has existed in Tudeley since the seventh century, then one of only four in the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...

. The

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

footings of the nave and tower may date from before the Norman conquest, and the church is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

under the village's alternative name of Tivedale. In 1293 the church was given to Tonbridge Priory. The majority of the existing structure was created in the later

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period, during the 13th and 14th centuries. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1526, it came under the control of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and then in 1529 became controlled by the Crown, before returning to private hands in 1548. Today it is part of the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

Restoration

The structure was extensively restored and renovated from the late 18th century, rebuilt in red

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

brick at a cost of £1,125. Much of the earlier stone shell of the chancel survived, as well as the lower walls of the nave and west tower. Three bells were also cast at this time and hung in the tower, and the roof topped with blue slate. 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 in

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

, and in 1885 the chancel arch was constructed and the 1571 Fane monument restored. The monument is to George Fane (1512-1572) Sheriff of Kent in 1557–8, son of Richard Fane by his wife Agnes Stidulf, the daughter and heiress of Henry Stidulf of Badsell, the son of Thomas Stidulf and his wife Marion Badsell, whose

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carve ...

is in the chancel.

Windows

On 19 September 1963, Sarah the daughter of Sir Henry and Lady D'Avigdor-Goldsmid who owned nearby

Somerhill House Somerhill House ( ) is a listed building, Grade I listed Jacobean architecture, Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It was built for Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde, The 4th Earl of Clanricarde in 1611–13. T ...

, was drowned in a sailing accident off

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. In her memory, the couple commissioned the Belarusian-French artist

to design a

window for the church; it was installed in 1967. When Chagall arrived for the dedication of the east window in 1967, and saw the church for the first time, he exclaimed ''""'' (''"It's magnificent! I will do them all!"'') Over the next ten years Chagall designed the remaining eleven windows in watercolour; these were again made in collaboration with the glassworker Charles Marq in his workshop at

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

in northern France. The windows were all installed by 1985 and in the following order: the Memorial Window in the altar wall, the five north windows (nos 1 to 5) and the two south windows (nos 11 and 12) dedicated in 1974. Installing the four

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

windows (nos. 6, 7, 9, 10) meant removing the Victorian memorial glass and so was controversial, but in 1985 these last Chagall windows were dedicated and installed, their predecessors being moved to the vestry at the back of the church, just before Chagall's death.Marc Chagall stained glass at All Saints, Tudeley http://www.tudeley.org/lookatthewindows.htm Accessed 2009-12-03 Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

History

Restoration

Windows

See also

References

External links