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Alphabetical Index of all judgments on this web site as at 10 September 2024

Judgments indexed by Diocese:
2024 Judgments
2023 Judgments
2022 Judgments
2021 Judgments

Re All Saints Sanderstead [2018] ECC Swk 4

The petitioners wished to remove seven rows of pews in the north aisle of the church and replace them with some existing upholstered chairs in storage, in order to allow a more flexible use of the space. The Victorian Society objected that the upholstered chairs were not suitable for the Grade I listed church. The Chancellor concluded that the introduction of the chairs would cause only moderate harm to the church, and that this harm would be outweighed by the resulting public benefit. He accordingly granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Scotby [2023] ECC Car 2

The petitioners wished urgently to install in the church a new gas boiler, to replace the existing 35 years old boiler (which had been condemned) and to make improvements to the heating system and boiler room. The Diocesan Advisory Committee did not approve the proposal. It took the view that the petitioners had not fully considered the alternatives to using fossil fuel. The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the petitioners had in fact considered all the available alternative heating systems, and that the system proposed was the only viable option that the church could afford. The Faculty was to be subject to a condition that the church either switched to a green gas tariff or entered into a separate arrangement with a carbon off-setting scheme to offset the carbon emissions from all non-renewable gas used.

Re All Saints Scraptoft [2012] Mark Blackett-Ord Ch. (Leicester)

The Vicar and Churchwardens requested a faculty for the disposal of a tenor bell dated 1600, which became redundant when a new set of six bells was installed in 2009. The proposal was that the bell should be sold to a local arts charity, which had used the bell with the permission of the Chancellor as a centrepiece for an arts festival in Folkestone, and that conditions should be imposed onteh sale that if no longer required by the arts charity, the bell should not be scrapped or exported, but should be offered to a museum, and in default of a museum being willing to take it, the bell should be given to Taylor's bell foundry in Loughborough. The Chancellor considered that such conditions imposed on a sale would be unenforceable, and suggested that the petitioner's consider applying for a faculty to simply lend the bell to the Folkestone arts charity.

Re All Saints Sharrington [2014] Ruth Arlow Ch. (Norwich)

A faculty was granted for the installation of wireless broadband equipment at the parish church. The judgment deals with the questions of whether relatives of a person living within the parish who do not themselves live within the parish have a sufficient interest to enable their representations to be considered; whether the Consistory Court has jurisdiction over matters which affect not only the church or churchyard but also potentially a wider area; whether the role of the Diocesan Board of Finance as, indirectly, a shareholder in the company proposing to erect wireless broadband equipment on the church had a bearing on the case; and whether the electromagnetic radiation emanating from the proposed wireless broadband equipment would be harmful to health.

Re All Saints Shawell [2016] ECC Lei 3

The Chancellor authorised the removal of a block of pews from the north-west corner on the Grade II* Victorian church, in order to allow the installation of a disabled toilet and a servery.

Re All Saints Sheepy Magna [2016] ECC Lei 2

The was a petition for reordering, including the replacement of pews with chairs and benches and the laying of new York Stone flooring. The Chancellor gave  directions that (inter alia) the petitioners should make further representations in writing before a final decision by the Chancellor.

Re All Saints Standon [2013] Stephen Eyre Ch. (Lichfield)

Faculty refused for memorial inscription including the words “Finally fell off his perch” and “It’s only rock and roll”.

Re All Saints Stanton [2023] ECC SEI 2

Several items of reordering were proposed. The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Victorian Society (though not formal parties to the proceedings) objected to the design of the new access on the north side of the church, the proposed quartz heaters and the replacement of the pews with chairs.  The Chancellor was satisfied that the benefit of the changes would outweigh any harm to the church and he granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Stranton [2022] ECC Dur 4

The Parochial Church Council wished to restore and retune the church's eight bells. The Church Buildings Council ('CBC') opposed the retuning of the 6th bell, as it was thought to predate 1600, and was therefore on the CBC's list of bells which should be preserved because of their historical importance. The evidence was that the 6th bell had already had modifications made to it in 1907, and had been badly retuned at that time; also, the retuning would involve the shaving of only a minimal amount of metal from the inner surface of the bell. The Chancellor granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Stretton-on-Dunsmore [2023] ECC Cov 2

The petitioner wished to have erected on her husband's grave a headstone including the design of three stylised heraldic lions, as her husband had a tattoo of three lions. The Chancellor was concerned that the design of the lions was similar to part of the Royal Arms of England, and to the three lions design licensed by the Crown to be used by the England football and cricket teams. In the absence of permission from the Crown to use the design, the Chancellor refused to permit the design on the headstone. However, he did permit the inscription on the headstone to include the deceased's nickname and the words 'Husband, Dad and Grandad'.