How do I set up a multiple-user subscription for a church office or library?
An institution subscription provides access to the directory for multiple users. After purchasing a subscription you will be able to set up access for your team members using one or more of these methods:
IP address authentication – register your IP address(es) to provide automatic access for everyone in your office.
Post-holder accounts – create individual username and passwords for staff who work remotely.
Referring URL - redirect users to Crockford Online from a password protected page on your own website.
EZProxy - libraries and colleges using EZProxy can also offer remote access to their members by registering their EZProxy IP address.
To set up any of these access methods, sign in to the website using your admin account (the email address and password used when purchasing a subscription). Go to My Account and select the Institution Admin tab.
Step-by-step instructions: Managing your institution subscription
Please do not pass the login details of an individual subscription to multiple users. This is in violation of our online terms of use. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information.
Back to topHow do I log on using an institution license?
If you wish to access the directory using an instituation license (for example in a church office or library), and you have not been logged in automatically, please contact your office administrator for more information.
If you are an Administrator, you can manage login options for your institutional subscription by visiting My Account and selecting the Institution Admin tab.
Back to topHow do I subscribe?
Please visit the Subscribe page and choose the subscription that meets your requirements from the drop-down menu.
You will then be directed to the Hymns Ancient and Modern group secure online checkout to complete the subscription process.
If you have an existing Hymns A&M account (used for purchases from Church House Publishing, Church Times or Church House Bookshop, for instance) please use these details to log in.
If you do not have an existing Hymns A&M account, please register as a new user.
Payment is by credit or debit card (excluding American Express or Diners Club). If you are purchasing an institution subscription and would prefer to be invoiced, please contact us at crockford@hymnsam.co.uk.
Back to topHow do I change my login details?
If you have forgotten your password or are not sure if it has changed, please visit Password Reminder and enter your email address.
To change your login details, including your email address and password, please login via the Login link at the top of this page, then select My Account.
If you continue to experience problems logging on, please contact the website team via crockford@hymnsam.co.uk
Back to topWhy have I been logged out of Crockford Online?
If you access Crockford Online using an email address and password
Personal, admin and post-holder accounts only allow one individual access to the directory. You will be logged out automatically if someone else uses your account details to log in. If this happens, we recommend that you change your account password to stop others from accessing the directory using your details. If you need to provide access to Crockford Online for more than one person, please purchase an institution subscription.
For institution admin users, we recommend that you do not share your admin account details but instead set up access for your organisation via IP address authentication, a referring URL and/or post-holder accounts. How to manage your institution subscription.
If you access Crockford via your organisation’s website
Your organisation may have changed their access options. Contact your librarian or office administrator in the first instance.
Back to topWho is eligible for a discounted subscription?
Some Church of England staff and office holders are eligible for a discounted subscription. If you are a serving Bishop, Cathedral Dean or Diocesan Secretary in the Church of England you are eligible for a discount on an individual subscription. Church of England dioceses and cathedrals are eligible for a discount on institution subscriptions.
Please note that discounts only apply to combined (Crockford + Year Book) subscriptions and are at the discretion of the Crockford team. To purchase a discounted subscription, please indicate that you fall into one of these eligible categories on our subscription page.
Back to topWhat is a post-holder account?
Organisations with an institution subscription to Crockford Online can create post-holder accounts for individual staff members.
A post-holder account allows a single user to access the directory using their own email address and password. Each post-holder account can only be used by one person, however institutions can create as many accounts as needed. We recommend that you create post-holder accounts for staff who are unable to access the directory using IP address authentication.
Step-by-step instructions: Managing your institution subscription
Back to topI/my office used to have a free subscription. Why am I being asked to pay for Crockford access now?
Before the Crockford website was first launched 15 years ago, a basic look-up service had been in place that was accessible only to Church of England bishops, cathedral deans, diocesan secretaries and their immediate staff, and staff of the National Church Institutions. Around 200 staff and office-holders in this category were given free access to Crockford Online at that point. By 2018, the numbers of people making use of such accounts had increased at least fivefold, as more and more organisations introduced networked IT systems, with many accounts being shared by a far wider group than originally envisaged. Between 2016 and 2018, figures for both users and sessions on Crockford online grew by over a third, while subscription revenues remained almost unchanged.
With Crockford print sales falling dramatically – over 50% in the last decade – and with the new GDPR requiring us to be more accountable for who is accessing information on individuals in our database, we have taken action to reform the system to encourage responsible and accountable use of data and to protect the revenue which funds the work of the Crockford compilation team.
We, of course, rely heavily on Bishops’, diocesan and cathedral offices for much of the data contained in Crockford (and also The Church of England Year Book). The new system is designed to ensure that those who were previously eligible for free access to Crockford – and many others who were not – enjoy a significant discount on access to both Crockford and the Year Book online.
Back to topWhat is the Year Book content and how do I find it?
Year Book-exclusive content can be found throughout the site and is marked with a 
. It can explored via the Year Book page, as well as via the Search bar.
The Year Book contains detailed information on the local and national structures of the Church of England. This includes details for diocesan staff and structures (in addition to that covered by Crockford), information about charities and organizations involved in the work of the Church of England, and a Who's Who of key figures, including General Synod members.
Back to topHow do I subscribe to Year Book content?
A Year Book subscription is required to view Year Book content. You can subscribe to the Year Book on its own, or combine it with a subscription to Crockford data.
View all subscription options
Back to topHow do I update Year Book content?
If you are logged into the website, the option to ‘Update this entry’ will appear on relevant pages. Please fill in any corrections you are aware of and we will update the record as soon as we can.
Back to topWill the Year Book still be available in print?
The Year Book is no longer is available in print, just online.
Back to topHow often is Year Book content updated?
We aim to publish any changes to the Year Book information within one month of receiving notification. If you believe any Year Book information to be incorrect, please notify us via the 'Update this entry' button on the relevant page.
In addition, all individuals, organizations and church structures in the Who's Who directory are asked to review their Year Book information on an annual basis.
Back to topCan I search for Year Book (non-clergy) roles at a diocese or cathedral?
At present, only individuals included in the Year Book Who's Who (generally those in national roles) can be found via a 'People' search.
To find non-clergy individuals within a cathedral or diocesan office, please browse the relevant Diocese page.
Back to topWho is included in Crockford?
The online directory contains the names of more than 27,000 clergy and deaconesses in the Church of England (including the Diocese in Europe), the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Church of Ireland.
However, in line with data protection guidelines, individual clergy have the right to request that their contact details be withheld. Where such a request has been made, you will not be able to search for the individual by name and their contact details will not be available to view.
Read the Privacy Notice regarding clergy data held in Crockford database
Back to topI am a member of the clergy. How do I update my own record?
The easiest way to submit updates or corrections to Crockford online is via the Update this entry button found at the top of all individual pages.
View your own record in Crockford free of charge via My Clergy Page.
All updates will be reviewed by the Crockford compilation team before being published.
Alternatively you can contact the compilation team directly:
Email: crockford@churchofengland.org
Write to:
Crockford Department
Church House
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3AZ
United Kingdom
Phone: +44(0) 20 7898 1012
Back to topIs Crockford the same as the Church of England’s National Register of Clergy?
No. The National Register of the clergy with Permission to Officiate (PtO) is available via the Church of England website: The Register – established in 2021 – shows all Church of England clergy who hold a Bishop’s Licence or PtO are engaged with the Church.
The National Register shows an individual’s title and name, how they are engaged with the Church of England (current post/licence) and the diocese, area or benefice to which they are licensed. The Register is free for anyone to access. Unlike Crockford, though, it does not include contact, biographical or historical information about clergy – and it does not cover clergy of the other Anglican Churches in the British Isles.
Back to topHow often is this website updated?
The Crockford database is continually updated and amended by the Crockford team, as information becomes available. This website is then updated with these amendments each working day.
Back to topWhat period of time does Crockford online cover?
Crockford online contains information on clergy appointments dating back to 1968. To find information that predates this, please see Historical data.
Back to topHow can I obtain information from an old print edition of Crockford?
An archive of print editions of Crockford is maintained at Lambeth Palace Library. Requests for information from specific editions may be made to the Library directly:
E-mail: archives@churchofengland.org
Please use the subject line: Clergy Enquiry
Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 1400
Post: Clergy Enquiry, Lambeth Palace Library, 15 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7JT
The Library is open Monday - Friday.
Back to topCan I email clergy directly from Crockford online?
Email addresses, where supplied, are listed within an individual's contact details.
Each email address is hyperlinked, allowing you to send an message to it using your computer's default email client.
Back to topWhat are the differences between the print and online editions of Crockford?
Both Crockford online and the print editions of Crockford draw their information from the Church of England's Crockford database.
The online edition receives updates from this database daily, while the print edition is published every two years.
The vast majority of information found in the print edition can be found on this website. However, in accordance with data protection legislation, clergy may choose to withhold their contact and/or biographical details from either the print or online editions of Crockford, or both. Consequently there may be a slight discrepancy between the two editions.
Back to topWhy do some individual's names not link to a biography page?
In line with data protection guidelines, individual clergy have the right to request that their contact details be withheld from either the print or online editions of Crockford, or both.
Where such a request has been made, an individual's name may appear in search results or on the Listings page, but no further information will be available to view.
Back to topCan I buy a printed copy of Crockford's Clerical Directory for easy reference?
The print edition of Crockford is published every two years by Church House Publishing.
Buy the 2024-25 edition
Back to topWhy is Crockford online a subscription site?
Crockford's Clerical Directory has provided a valuable service to all those working with the church for over 160 years. However, the provision of such a service, including maintaining accurate data, producing print editions, and running the website requires investment.
Sales of print editions and online subscriptions help to cover the costs incurred and enable Church House Publishing to continue providing this service to the Church of England and the Anglican Communion at large.
Back to topCan this website be used to target specific groups of clergy?
It is not possible to search for clergy by age, gender, marital status, race, nationality, country of birth, membership of a church network, or by any other personal information. Consequently it is not possible to use this website to target clergy in a discriminatory way.
Search results may only be refined by location, type of post, and by whether a member of the clergy is living or deceased.
This website is also designed to make the mining of data and the creation of mailing lists a laborious and time-consuming process.
Back to topHow safe is my contact information?
As required by GDPR legislation, we follow strict security procedures with regard to the storage and disclosure of personal information. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Crockford online is laid out in such as way as to make the mining of data a difficult process. It is not designed for the benefit of direct marketing companies.
Back to topAre listed email addresses at risk of receiving spam?
While it is possible to send emails to individual clergy using Crockford online, this can only be done by searching for clergy by name, or by slowly working through benefice pages.
It is not possible to use Crockford online to email multiple clergy at once.
However, it is a violation of the Terms and Conditions of this site to use a Crockford subscription to harvest data for canvassing/marketing purposes.
If you are concerned that an organisation may have misused your data in this way, please contact us.
Back to topI work overseas and am concerned about the security implications of being listed on this site.
In accordance with GDPR legislation, if you require your information to be removed from this website for any reason, please contact us.
Back to topI represent an organisation seeking to contact clergy for marketing/canvassing purposes. If we subscribe, can we use contact data from Crockford for this purpose?
No. It is a violation of the Terms and Conditions of this site to use a Crockford subscription to harvest data for canvassing/marketing purposes.
If you represent an organisation that is interested in reaching clergy for canvassing or marketing purposes, Crockford can support you in doing so legitimately.
As well as offering print and online advertising opportunities, we also supply postal address data (where we have permission to do as set out in our Privacy Notice) for one-time use to carefully vetted organisations. Please contact us for more information about either of these services.
Back to top