Miscellaneous

The proposal was to sell to the British Museum a valuable fifteenth century silver cup which had been used as a chalice, but which in recent years had been on loan to the Museum. There was one party opponent. The Chancellor granted a faculty permitting the sale of the cup on condition that it would be sold only to the British Museum. He directed that a photographic record of the cup be made, along with a short history and that it should be displayed in the church. He also directed as a condition of the faculty that a copy of the cup be made for liturgical use.

Faculty granted for the installation of solar panels on the south side of the roof of an unlisted church built in 1940 in the Arts & Crafts style.

There was an application for a confirmatory faculty in respect of an illuminated cross placed on the western face of the church tower two years previously, under an Archdeacon's Licence for Temporary Reordering (a procedure which the Chancellor considered inappropriate). The Chancellor decided to grant a faculty for a term of 5 years, subject to consent being obtained under the Advertising Regulations, and subject to the cross being illuminated on not more that 28 days in each calendar year, with leave to apply for further extensions of 5 years, without the need for a further faculty petition.

The Petitioners sought a Faculty to replace the existing tower clock dial with one made from Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) and restoration of the existing clock hands and dial motion works. The Diocesan Advisory Committee did not support the proposal to replace the clock dial with one made of GRP. Historic England also opposed the proposed GRP dial, which they claimed would be harmful to the significance and architectural and historic interest of the Grade I listed building through the loss of historic fabric. The Chancellor determined not to grant a faculty.

Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance wished to transfer to Lancashire Museum Services a bell from the church, which had been closed four years previously. A local MP wrote to the Diocesan Registry to say that the bell should be retained in the church because a local group, the Church Kirk Regeneration Trust ("CKRT"), was in the process of completing an assessment of the site, after which they intended to develop proposals for the use of the church building. The Chancellor decided that the matter should not be left open indefinitely. He therefore made an order that the bell should be transferred to the Museum on loan for an interim period expiring on 31 December 2021. Three months before the expiry of the period, CKRT should submit written proposals for the bell for a further decision by the Chancellor. In the absence of any proposals, the bell should remain permanently with the Museum.

A quinquennial report in 1986 recorded a serious state of deterioration of the stonework of the church. The church raised £30,000 and spent it on repairs. However, the tower was in a serious condition and an estimate of £140,000 was given for repairs to the tower alone. The Parochial Church Council of the small parish was unable to find the money for the urgent repairs and sought to sell two silver flagons, valued at £25,000, to help them to deal with the emergency. The Chancellor decided that, in order to meet the emergency, the sale of the flagons should be allowed, and he therefore granted a faculty for the sale of the silver.

From the 17th century until 1969, a spiked helmet with visor (an 'armet') had hung from a bracket in the church. For security reasons, it was then placed in a bank vault. In 1974 a faculty was granted to allow the armet to be placed on indefinite loan with the Armouries of thw Tower of London. It was subsequently moved with much of the Tower Armouries collection to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds in 1996. In 2010 the Parochial Church Council was short of funds and wished to sell the armet. The consent of heirs at law was obtained. The Chancellor decided that financial justification for sale was proved by the Petitioners, and he therefore granted a faculty. [There was a subsequent appeal by the Church Buildings Council against the sale, and the Court of Arches allowed the appeal.]

From the 17th century until 1969, a spiked helmet with visor (an 'armet') had hung from a bracket in the church. For security reasons, it was then placed in a bank vault. In 1974 a faculty was granted to allow the armet to be placed on indefinite loan with the Armouries of thw Tower of London. It was subsequently moved with much of the Tower Armouries collection to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds in 1996. In 2010 the Parochial Church Council was short of funds and wished to sell the armet. The consent of heirs at law was obtained. The Chancellor decided that financial justification for sale was proved by the Petitioners, and he therefore granted a faculty. [There was a subsequent appeal by the Church Buildings Council against the sale, and the Court of Arches allowed the appeal.]

The Rector and Churchwardens petitioned to install a heraldic hatchment with the coat of arms of the Collins family of Adlestrop Park in the nave or in the north transept of the church. There were already in the church three hatchments of the Leigh family, who had owned Adlestrop Park from 1553 until it was sold to the Collins family during the last century. A parishioner objected that "Church hatchments were to mark the death of a ‘Lord of the Manor’ ... only a family which has strong ties over several generations should have such a display.”  The Chancellor was satisfied that hatchments, if displaying legally authorised Coats of Arms, can still with sufficient reason be introduced by Faculty. [Note: Jane Austen is believed to have regularly visited Adlestrop.]

Faculty granted for the disposal of three sets of High Mass vestments thought to be "not in keeping with the present vestments and were bought without sufficient consultation with the PCC and are generally regarded as 'mistakes'", even though purchased in recent years at considerable expense. Comments by the acting Deputy Chancellor on the stewardship of parish resources.