Reordering

An appeal by the Victorian Society against the decision of the Chancellor of the Diocese of Rochester to allow the removal from the church of a Victorian eight bay screen by Bodley & Garner and its reinstallation in a church in Leicestershire, which would necessitate the reduction of the screen by two bays. Appeal dismissed.

Faculty granted for extensive re-ordering, including removal of pews, new internal entrance lobby, moving of the font to a new position and introduction of a new sound reinforcement system.

The proposals included a dais, extending the chancel outwards beyond the choir and into the nave; removal of the back rows of choir stalls and re-positioning of the front rows; carpet for the dais and choir area; a portable altar and communion rails; alterations to the chancel arch; making the Lady chapel pews free-standing; and the removal of pews from the south aisle, to create a children's area. After considering the guidance given in Re St. Alkmund Duffield [2013], the Chancellor granted a faculty.

Faculty granted for various items of re-ordering, including moving from the chancel (but not removal from the church) of some choir stalls given in 1931 in memory of Emmeline Pankhurst.

The petition sought retrospective permission for various works of reordering carried out without faculty during the 1990s. In a previous judgment the Chancellor had required the Parochial Church Council to put forward some proposals for recording what the church was like before the reordering, including the names of donors of items which had been removed, and also proposals for displaying the regimental banners. The Chancellor did not grant a faculty for the works carried out in the 1990s, but approved the display of drawings showing how the church looked before the reordering and the display of the regimental banners.

The petitioners sought a faculty for the permanent removal of some pews and the installation of a fitted carpet in the south west corner of the church. These works had previously been authorised by archdeacon's licence, and the petition sought to make permanent this temporary experiment. English Heritage commended the project and the Victorian Society did not wish to comment. The Chancellor took into account two letters of objection from parishioners. Faculty granted.

A reordering scheme involved pews, platforms, the floor, the pulpit, a dais, a toilet, new heating and lighting, a kitchen, new chairs and storage facilities. The Chancellor granted a faculty, subject to conditions.

The proposed works included: (1) repair, replace and treat rotten and infested roof timbers and beams and floor supports and floors; (2) create a ramped disabled access adjacent to the main door; (3) create a disabled toilet within the disused south porch; (4) permanently remove some pews to create additional space for movement around the church and disabled/wheelchair access; and (5) create a larger family-friendly pew area at the rear of the south aisle by the removal of two pews. There were no objections. The Chancellor was satisfied that the proposed works would not result in any harm to the significance of the Grade II* church as a building of special architectural or historic interest, and accordingly granted a faculty.

A Faculty had been granted in 2007 to authorise the removal of the pews. Upon an application in 2011 for an extension of time, the Chancellor directed that further Public Notices be published. Several objections were received. Matter determined by written representations. Extension allowed, subject to conditions.

A faculty was sought for repairs to pew platforms and pews, and also the moving of the font from the south aisle to a more central position at the back of the Church, 'so that the administration of the sacrament of baptism can be better seen by the congregation and that there may be an improved liturgical focus on a baptism conducted during the main Sunday morning worship.' There were two objections to the moving of the font. Faculty granted.