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

Judgments indexed by Diocese:
2023 Judgments
2022 Judgments
2021 Judgments

Re St. Peter Stoke Upon Tern [2019] ECC Lic 3

The proposed works to the Grade II church involved a "a significant remodelling" of the porch. The Victorian Society, though not a party opponent, expressed strong objections that the works would involve the demolition of a “principal element” of the listed building, as the design would be so different from the original porch. Historic England expressed a preference for the porch being rebuilt close to its original design. The Diocesan Advisory Committee's only reservation was the proposed curtain heater over the door. The Chancellor determined that the benefits from the lighter and more comfortable and more welcoming internal arrangements which would result from the proposed glazing, outweighed the harm to the church’s special significance, and he therefore granted a faculty.

Re St. Peter Terwick [2017] ECC Chi 2

The Chancellor determined to grant a faculty to allow part of the churchyard to be reused for burials, but proposed to stay the issue of the faculty until the parish had considered whether to ask for a set of bespoke churchyard regulations limiting the types of stone which could be used for memorials, in order to preserve the character of the unique setting of the small country church set in the middle of a field.

Re St. Peter Terwick [2023] ECC Chi 3

The petitioner wished to erect a memorial over the grave of his late wife. The incumbent, Parochial Church Council and churchwardens raised 11 objections, but did not wish to be parties opponent. After a site visit and an informal hearing with the petitioner, the incumbent and a churchwarden, the Chancellor indicated that he was minded to allow the memorial and would give detailed reasons in a written judgment.

Re St. Peter Titchfield [2021] ECC Por 2

The Parochial Church Council and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu sought permission to re-establish a secure and permanent access to the vault beneath the Southampton Chapel in the church, to establish the condition of the substructure of the chapel and in particular the area supporting the Southampton Memorial in the Chapel, which commemorates the lives of members of the Wriothesley/Southampton family, many of whom were interred in the vault in the 16th-18th centuries. There had been some settlement of the monument in 1959. The vault formerly had two accesses, an external one, bricked up in 1899, and an access from inside the chapel, sealed up in the 1950s. Although the Church Buildings Council had concerns about the possible disturbance of human remains, the Chancellor was satisfied that the architect and others had made a good case for installing a new access from the chapel, to assist in monitoring the condition of the vault and chapel. He accordingly granted a faculty.

Re St. Peter Walsall [2021] ECC Lic 4

A petition was submitted for the removal of pews and the pew platforms from the church, to be replaced with chairs featuring upholstered seat and back pads, and to replace the existing heating with 30 wall-mounted radiators together with underfloor pipes all heated by a gas-fired boiler. The faculty was granted on the condition that as far as practicable gas would be supplied under a green tariff and carbon emissions caused by any non-renewable gas used are off-set. In respect of the removal of pews, four pews were to be retained and repositioned against the north and south walls; the increase in the area of wooden flooring to cover the current extent of the north and south aisles; and the provision that all the chairs would be covered in 'Espresso' upholstery, a dark brown to match the woodwork in the church.

Re St. Peter Welford-on-Avon [2016] ECC Glo 1

The Petitioners wished to replace the Victorian pews with 64 solid chairs and 48 folding chairs (the folding chairs to be housed in three purpose-built wooden cabinets). The written representations of 25 objectors were taken into account. Amongst the evidence it was contended that the pews were of historical significance as they were thought to have been designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The Deputy Chancellor concluded that there was insufficient evidence to justify such contention. The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty, subject (inter alia) to the retention of eight short pews.

Re St. Peter West Blatchington [2019] ECC Chi 4

The churchwardens sought a faculty to authorise the felling of a Scots Pine tree. Two adults had recently been hit by falling pine cones, and there was a concern for the safety of children who used the footpaths next to the tree for access to pre-school events or the Sunday school. Two objectors (who did not become parties opponent) claimed that the loss of the tree would be detrimental to the visual amenity of the churchyard. The Chancellor granted a faculty, subject to a condition that a replacement tree of a species approved by the archdeacon should be planted during the current or next growing season at a location approved by the archdeacon.

Re St. Peter Whitstable [2016] ECC Can 1

A Faculty was granted to allow a temporary Post Office to be placed at the rear of the church, pending the provision of a new permanent Post Office site in the town.

Re St. Peter Wolverhampton [2013] Stephen Eyre Ch. (Lichfield)

Faculty refused for the installation in the chancel of a Grade I listed church of a large nineteenth century pipe organ to replace a smaller electronic organ, on the ground that the pipe organ would have "a significant adverse impact on the chancel’s special character".

Re St. Peter Wolviston [2023] ECC Dur 1

The Chancellor refused to grant a faculty for the reservation of a grave space. Although several relatives of the petitioner were buried in the churchyard, the petitioner was not a parishioner and did not have a legal right to be buried in the churchyard. Also, the reservation of a grave would use up a space in an almost full churchyard and prevent the burial of another person, who would otherwise have had a legal right to be buried there.