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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 All Saints Bishop Burton [2019] ECC Yor 6

The petition proposed the following works of reordering: (1) install access ramp to south door (2) introduce entrance lobby to south entrance (3) remove 2 pews at west end of south aisle and install disabled WC (4) re-order west end (5) upgrade kitchen facilities and (5) install a trench arch system with gravel and paved pathway over. There were objections to the moving of the pews and the access to the WC. The Chancellor was satisfied that the petitioners have made out a case for their proposals and he accordingly granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Bramham [2007] Peter Collier Ch. (York)

The proposals were to remove two pews and book boards from the west end of the nave, to re-site the font centrally in the west bay of the nave, to introduce kitchen cupboards against the north wall of the tower, to introduce display units and cupboards at the west end of both aisles and to do various works in the vestry. There were objections to the moving of the font and the loss of some pews. The Chancellor determined that the proposals were both necessary and appropriate and granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Bramham [2017] ECC Yor 3

The Chancellor granted a faculty for some minor reordering of the chancel of the church, to include moving the stone altar forward by 1 metre, to allow the celebrant to face westwards. The work also included the removal and disposal of the children's choir stalls.

Re All Saints Bransgore with Thorney Hill [2017] ECC Win 3

The Chancellor considered two applications for faculties for proposed memorials, both of black polished stone with kerbs. One design incorporated a painted scene of a fisherman against a sunset, and the other featured a stained glass insert with a design of an angel. The Parochial Church Council supported the applications, but the Diocesan Advisory Committee recommended refusal in each case. The Chancellor refused to grant faculties. He determined that the proposed designs would be harmful both to the character of the churchyard, and to the contribution it makes to the setting of the Grade I listed church.

Re All Saints Branston [2018] ECC Lin 2

In 1972 a reredos had been installed in the church of St. James Grimsby (now Grimsby Minster) in memory of a parishioner's wife. The reredos had been made by the sculptor Frank Roper to a design by the architect George Pace. In the course of a reordering in 1995, which was carried out without faculty, the reredos was removed and stored in the church. Some other items of furnishing were also removed at the time and there present whereabouts were unknown. The petitioners in the present case wished to relocate the reredos to the church of All Saints Branston. The Chancellor granted a faculty, but directed that the archdeacon should prepare a list of the furnishings removed in 1995, with the names of the donors and locations of the items, if known, with a view to the Chancellor then making an order in respect of those items.

Re All Saints Buncton [2018] ECC Chi 1

In 2008, the church architect sought formal advice from the Diocesan Advisory Committee for internal redecoration of the church. A revised request for formal advice was submitted in 2011. The DAC issued a certificate (with provisos) in respect of "a single coat of lime wash to the interior of the church". Work started in 2013, although no faculty had been granted. By the beginning of 2017, the walls were discoloured with algae. The architect advised the PCC that any remedial work and repainting would be covered by the earlier faculty (which in fact did not exist). Repainting was carried out in 2017, but with white clay paint instead of lime wash. When it was discovered by the DAC Secretary that the work had been done without faculty, an application was made for a confirmatory faculty. The Chancellor granted a faculty, but criticised the architect for allowing work to proceed without first making sure that a faculty had been granted, and he directed that the architect should pay two-thirds of the court fees.

Re All Saints Calverton [2021] ECC Oxf 7

The petitioner applied for a retrospective faculty to authorise the installation on a grave in the churchyard of what was described in the petition as a “grey plastic border and white gravel”, a memorial different from those permitted by the Diocese of Oxford Churchyard Regulations 2016. The Chancellor did not regard as determinative the petitioner's contention that there were already a number of other graves with kerbing in the churchyard. The Parochial Church Council objected to the grant of a faculty, on the grounds that kerbs made maintenance more difficult, and that they had already been trying to get other families to remove similar embellishments on graves. The Chancellor determined that the petitioner had not made a good case for a departure from the churchyards regulations and he refused to grant a faculty.

Re All Saints Cawood [2018] ECC Yor 5

The Vicar and Churchwarden sought permission to remove and dispose of six pews from the rear area of the church in order to establish a flexible area for use for various activities, and also to erect an additional plaque directly under the present War Memorial wall plaque in order to add ten missing names. The Chancellor had already, on application, granted an interim faculty for the memorial plaque, so that it could be completed prior to the war centenary commemorations. The Chancellor was satisfied that the petitioners had made out a case for the removal of the pews and granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Chelsworth [2024] ECC SEI 4

The Petitioners wished to move one of the floodlights installed with faculty permission in 2011 from the South East to the North West corner of the churchyard and to increase the floodlighting from 25 hours a year to approximately 150 hours a year. There were several written objections from parishioners, citing effects on wildlife, the Church of England’s net zero policy, potential for crime, light pollution and the fact that the lighting would not be visible to most people. The Chancellor considered that the petitioners had given no substantive reason for altering the terms of the original faculty and he therefore refused to grant a faculty.

Re All Saints Childwall [2023] ECC Liv 4

The proposal was to move a war memorial from the church porch and reposition it on a wall at the west end of the church in order to protect it from the elements in the open porch. The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty.