Self-Guided Visits

We also welcome self-guided visits to the church. Please note that self-guided visits also require booking through the Heritage and Learning Officer to ensure availability and the best possible experience for all visitors.

Local History Study

All Saints Church has been at the centre of Kingston history for over a thousand years, making it a fantastic source for local history studies, with monuments, architecture and artwork from the Anglo-Saxons to the present day. If you are interested in making All Saints Church the focus for a local study, please contact the Heritage and Learning Officer for more information.

How to book

• Download a booking enquiry form from the website. Alternatively, call or email the Heritage and Learning Officer to make a preliminary enquiry.
• Please complete a booking enquiry form at least one month prior to your intended visit, and email it to the Heritage and Learning Officer at [email protected].
• The Heritage and Learning Officer will then check availability for your visit, before confirming your visit via email.
• Please note that a booking has not been made until you receive a booking confirmation form from us.

Download the Adult Learning Form:

Adult Learning ASK enquiry form (.docx)

Payment

• All Saints Church requires you to pay the cost of your visit in advance. You will not be permitted onsite unless the full amount has been paid.
• You will receive an invoice and instructions on how to pay with your confirmation form.
• Any alterations to group numbers must be made no later than 14 days prior to your visit. We require at least 14 days’ notice otherwise you will be charged the full cost of your visit (as on confirmation booking form).
• If you need to cancel your booking you must let us know at least TWO WEEKS before your visit date. We regret that any cancellations made after this period will be charged for, in full.
• All Saints Church reserves the right to refuse entry to large groups who have not booked in advance.
• All workshops and trails are subject to availability. For reasons beyond the learning department’s control, it is very occasionally necessary to cancel a booked activity at short notice.
• It may not be possible to re-schedule the times of pre-booked activities, such as workshops, for groups who arrive late. All Saints Church reserves the right to cancel or shorten activities in these circumstances.

Booking Guidelines

These guidelines will help your visit to All Saints Church go smoothly – please read them carefully.

• Please provide all accompanying adults with a copy of these guidelines before your visit.
• Please arrange in advance, how your group will be divided into smaller working groups on arrival at the church. This will save your time on the day.
• All Saints Church is primarily a place of worship. We ask that all groups are quiet and respectful whilst in the church. Please remind students about appropriate behavior before you arrive and re-iterate throughout your visit. Any groups causing disturbances will be asked to leave the church.
• Please telephone All Saints Church if you know you are going to be late ( 0208 546 5964 ). It may not be possible to re-schedule the times of pre-booked activities, such as workshops, for groups who arrive late. All Saints Church reserves the right to cancel or shorten activities in these circumstances.
• Please ensure that all mobile phones are switched off for the duration of your visit.
• Mid-week services are held at 12pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 10.30am on Thursdays, at All Saints and last approximately half an hour. Groups in the church during these times are asked to respect this practice and avoid moving through the nave during the service. Please take notice of the service times if you are planning a self-guided visit.
• School staff and accompanying adults are responsible for the welfare and behavior of students throughout their visit. If there is an accident/health issue please contact church staff or vergers.
• We require all groups to bring appropriate adult supervision (see below). Groups using the public toilets must be accompanied by an adult. All Saints Church reserves the right to refuse entry to under-supervised groups.
  

  Child’s age	Amount of adults	No. of children
  0-3	1	3
  4-12	1	5
  13-18	1	10

• There could be other groups and visitors exploring the church at the same time as you, please consider the effect this could have on your timetable, and the availability of facilities such as toilets.

Please consider all of these points, plan your visit carefully and fully brief all of you accompanying adults. If you have any questions regarding planning your visit, please get in touch with the Heritage and Learning Officer.

Risk assessments

We have a wide range of groups and activities at All Saints Church. We therefore strongly recommend that the member of staff organising the visit makes a pre-visit to the church to conduct your own risk assessment. We can provide a list of recommendations (below) which will help you prepare and we are always happy to answer any additional queries you may have, by email or telephone. Please contact the Heritage and Learning Officer to arrange your pre-visit.

All Saints Church has public liability insurance cover up to £5,000,000. Please remember that we do not know your students as well as you do. Some of our trails and workshops are led by volunteers, who are experienced and knowledgeable, but may have no formal teacher training. The management of the behavior and safety of your group is your responsibility at all times.

Likelihood: 1 = improbable 2 = possible 3 = likely 4 = very likely 5 = inevitable

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to book in advance?
Yes. Bookings should be made at least one month before the date of your visit.

How to pay
All Saints Church requires you to pay in advance. Your group will not be permitted onsite unless the full amount has been paid. You will receive an invoice and payment details with your confirmation form.

How to get here
All Saints Church is situated in the heart of Kingston, close to Kingston train station and bus routes. There is no visitor parking available due to the central location of the church. For more information please click here.

What are the opening hours?
The church is open daily between 10am and 4pm.

Will there be any services during our visit?

• 12pm Tuesday – Holy Communion
• 12pm Wednesday – Holy Communion
• 10.30am Thursday – Holy Communion
• 12.30pm Friday – Silent Prayer

Where can we eat packed lunch?
There is seating in the churchyard to the north of the church. It may be possible to accommodate small groups in the east end of the church, subject to availability. You must request this in your enquiry form.

Toilets
We have two toilets onsite that your group will be able to use during your visit. Both have disabled access.
Groups using the public toilets must be accompanied by an adult.

Are there facilities for those with Special Needs?
All Saints Church is wheelchair accessible and the west door is power assisted. Please inform us of any special needs when you return your enquiry form.

Where should we report when we arrive?
School groups should arrive through the north west door (please see map), next to the Heritage Room. You will be greeted by your guide.

Terms and conditions

• Please note that a booking has not been made until you receive a booking confirmation form from us.
• Any alterations to group numbers must be made no later than 14 days prior to your visit. We require at least 14 days’ notice otherwise you will be charged the full cost of your visit (as on confirmation booking form).
• All Saints Church requires you to pay the cost of your visit in advance. You will not be permitted onsite unless the full amount has been paid.
• All Saints Church reserves the right to refuse entry to large groups who have not booked in advance.
• All workshops and trails are subject to availability. For reasons beyond the learning department’s control, it is very occasionally necessary to cancel a booked activity at short notice.
• It may not be possible to re-schedule the times of pre-booked activities, such as workshops, for groups who arrive late. All Saints Church reserves the right to cancel or shorten activities in these circumstances.

Download the Adult Learning Form:

Adult Learning ASK enquiry form (.docx)

ASK Heritage Lectures 2017

Our series of FREE lectures cover a variety of topics from the first King of England, who was crowned here in 925, to the medieval church and all the way to WW1.

All lectures start at 19.30 with drinks available from 19.00.

All lectures are free admission and there is no need to pre-book.

Thursday 15^th June

David Robinson – ‘All Saints: The Stripping of the Altars’

Five hundred years ago, All Saints was a blaze of colour with paintings and statues, altars with priests singing mass in Latin, screens and organs and dramatic celebration of Easter.  A century later, these had vanished.  The services were in English and dominated by long sermons.  We shall see how these changes came about and how the people of Kingston responded to them.

All Saints: The Stripping of the Altars Lecture Transcript

All Saints: The Stripping of the Altars Video

Thursday 22^nd June

Tom Holland – ‘Athelstan and the making of England’

Crowned in Kingston, Athelstan was the king who made England possible. It was an achievement won against the odds: the division of Britain into rival kingdoms, the conquest of much of the island by the Vikings, the need to foster an urban civilisation where there had been only brambles and weeds. Athelstan himself, though, was building on foundations laid by his immediate forebears, and this is their story too: Alfred, the only English king to be called ‘Great’; Edward, the great warrior whose conquests reached as far as the Humber; and Æthelflæd, the ‘Lady of the Mercians’. It is a remarkable story: a reminder that the making of England was never inevitable.

Athelstan and the making of England Video

Thursday 6^th July

Nicholas Howgill – ‘Now it’s Serious – the East Surrey Regiment in 1917’

A look at the activities of the East Surrey Regiment in 1917, examining the composition of the battalions especially on the Western Front to see how they changed with the advent of conscription and how they were developing the techniques and organisation required to win the war.

Now It’s Serious – The East Surrey Regiment in 1917 Video

Thursday 13^th July

Caroline Godden – ‘Blood, bones and books: getting to know King Æthelstan’

An introduction to the renowned Anglo-Saxon King Æthelstan, the self-styled ‘King of All Britain’, who was crowned here in Kingston in 925AD. He is famed for his momentous victory at the Battle of Brunanburh, for his international political outlook, and for the eventual dominance of his rule in England, Wales and Scotland. But more than this, he was a ruler whose individual touches and personal tastes can be seen across different aspects of his kingship – from changes in his law-codes to his international search for holy relics and religious texts. This talk will explore the reign of Æthelstan and what it was that made him extraordinary.

Blood, Bones and Books: Getting to know King Æthelstan Video

All Saints is after your memories!

As part of our heritage project, we are looking to collect people’s memories of All Saints over the years and create an archive and exhibition, to be held in the church in 2018.  We would like images, written memories, articles & clippings and videos as well as interviewing individuals to create an oral history of All Saints Kingston.

If you would like to contribute anything, or would like a bit more information, please contact the Heritage and Learning Officer at [email protected] or on 0208 541 5371.