Judgments Recently Received
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Re St. Mary the Virgin Sprotbrough [2025] ECC She 1
A large scheme of reordering was proposed, with the aim of improving the experience of worship and also creating flexible spaces at the front and rear of the nave to facilitate increasing community events. There were objections to (inter alia) the relocation of the chancel screen to beneath the east window and the removal of some pews (which were said by the Twentieth Century Society to be part of the works carried out by Sir Ninian Comper in 1915); the division of the twentieth century lectern/priest’s desk designed by the architect George Pace; and the relocation of the pulpit. The Chancellor decided that the proposed changes were well argued, and she therefore granted a faculty.
Re All Saints Featherstone [2025] ECC Lee 1
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council sought a confirmatory faculty for the felling of a tree that had been removed from the churchyard without authority. A routine safety inspection by the Council had revealed that an ash tree was affected by a fungus and was suffering from ash die-back, which would cause the inner structure of the tree to deteriorate. The tree was duly felled without permission, which the Council could have sought from the Archdeacon under List B of the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2015 (as amended). After explaining the various methods whereby permission can be obtained for the felling of a tree, including in the case of an emergency, the Chancellor pointed out that the Council’s initial allegation that “We have always had an agreement that if the works are for safety reasons, then no applications are required” could not override the requirement for permission in accordance with the faculty rules. However, he concluded that it was appropriate in the present instance to grant a confirmatory faculty.
Re St. Bartholomew Colne [2025] ECC Bla 1
The Rector and Churchwarden sought a faculty to regularise the installation of four infra-red heaters in the north aisle of the church, the subject of an interim faculty, and also to make permanent some minor reordering carried out under an archdeacon’s licence, namely, the removal of four pews, a pew frontal, and two altar rails from the north chapel and the installation of free-standing shelving and refrigerators as storage for the church’s food bank. The Victorian Society and Historic Buildings and Places objected to the proposals to remove the four pews, pew frontal and the altar rails from the north chapel. The Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the petitioners had made a clear and convincing justification for the proposals in terms of the resulting community and missional benefits. The faculty was subject to a condition that the four pews, their pew frontal, and the two altar rails should all be retained within the church building or in the adjacent Parish Rooms.
Re St. Paul Heslington [2025] ECC Yor 1
Following a major extension and radical reordering of the church in 1973, a “bold stainless steel font … surmounted by a dove” was introduced into the church. The nineteenth century font was placed outside the church and used as a plant holder. In recent years its condition had seriously deteriorated and in 2022 it had been brought back into the church and its parts had been stored on wooden pallets behind a pew. Having considered various options for the font, the petitioners had decided that burial of the font in the churchyard was the best option. The Church Building Council, Historic England and the Victorian Society did not support the proposal. The Chancellor considered that the redesigned interior of the church had made the retention of the older font no longer practical or desirable, and after considering all other options she concluded that there was no viable alternative other than to allow the burial of the font in the churchyard.
Re St. Mary the Virgin Bruton [2025] ECC B&W 1
The Rector and Churchwardens petitioned for a faculty to authorise the installation of a kitchen and servery unit in the north aisle of the church and two toilets on the ground floor of the tower, with a new meeting room and gallery above. The works would involve moving the tower screen forward a short distance. One parishioner objected, being concerned that the relocation of the screen and the construction of the balcony would have an adverse impact on the west window. She also was concerned about the loss of the 19th century doors from the screen. The Victorian Society had expressed similar reservations. The Chancellor granted a faculty: although the works would involve some harm to the fabric, and the lowest part of the west window would be obscured, such harm, though regrettable, was outweighed by the practical need for modern facilities within the building.
Re St. Lawrence Lechlade [2024] ECC Glo 1
An extensive programme of reordering was proposed, including raising the nave floor and introducing new limestone flagstones; underfloor heating; air source heat pumps in the churchyard; replacing the nave pews with chairs, introduction of a west end gallery with two toilets underneath; and other items too numerous to be listed in a short summary. The main object of the proposals was ‘putting the church to viable uses that are consistent with its role as a place of worship and mission.’ Approximately 40 letters of objection were received, but no objector became a party opponent. The Chancellor granted a faculty for the majority of the works.
Re Holy Trinity Langdale [2025] ECC Car 1
The petitioner wished to install in the churchyard a headstone commemorating two members of his family whose ashes were scattered at a local estate. The intention was for the stone to be placed with memorials to other members of the family. The Diocesan Advisory Committee did not recommend the proposal for the following reasons: it was not possible to determine whether the deceased relatives would have wished to have a memorial in the churchyard; available space in this popular area should be retained for graves rather than family memorials; the requested memorial would mark neither a grave nor an interment of cremated remains; and, whilst the proposed memorial was intended to match other family memorials, a new stone and its lettering ‘could be very conspicuous next to its weathered neighbours.’ For these reasons, the Chancellor refused to grant a faculty. He also declined an amended proposal to attach a white marble plaque to an existing family memorial.
Re The Wisdom of God Lower Kingswood [2025] ECC Swk 1
This judgment concerned a preliminary issue as to whether a faculty would be required for the sale of a Greek lectionary, which had been given to the church in 1948. The church is unlisted and unconsecrated, but in 1990 the Bishop of Southwark made an order under the provisions of section 6 of the Faculty Jurisdiction Measure 1964, making the church subject to the faculty jurisdiction. The lectionary had never been kept in the church. It was originally put into a bank vault, but allegedly displayed in the church occasionally on festival occasions. In 1968 it was loaned to the British Library. In 2019 the British Library informed the parish that it no longer wished to have the lectionary on loan, and it was transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge. Notwithstanding that the lectionary had rarely, if ever, been in the church, the Chancellor decided that it could still be described as part of the contents of the church, even if its whereabouts were not physically inside the church. Therefore, a faculty would be required to authorise a disposal of the lectionary.