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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 Findern [2018] ECC Der 1

There had originally been a proposal to sell the organ located in the church tower, and to use the space presently occupied by the organ to provide for kitchen and toilet facilities. The organ had not been used for many years, but had been installed shortly after the church had been built in the 19th century. However, the current petition was limited to the sale and removal of the organ. The Chancellor was satisfied in principal that the removal of the organ and installation of the kitchen and toilet facilities would benefit the church and the community, and he granted a faculty for the sale of the organ, provided that the sale would take place within two years, and provided also that the organ should remain as it is until the petitioners have permission from the Court to install the proposed kitchen and toilet facilities.

Re All Saints Footscray [2013] John Gallagher Ch. (Rochester)

The Chancellor refused to grant a confirmatory faculty for a memorial introduced into the churchyard without authority, the memorial being in contravention of the Churchyard Rules

Re All Saints Freshwater [2019] ECC Por 4

There were five applications to exhume human remains. The graves had been undermined by the collapse of a badger sett following heavy rains. The Chancellor granted faculties for the remains to be exhumed and reinterred in a part of the churchyard away from the badger sett.

Re All Saints Friskney [2021] ECC Lin 5

In April 2020, the Chancellor had granted an interim injunction (subsequently renewed) on the application of the Parish Council, who were responsible for maintenance of the churchyard. The injunction was against further lopping or removal of trees, or erecting a replacement boundary between the churchyard and the adjoining inn by the owner of the inn. The Chancellor asked the Archdeacon to meet the parties and agree the boundary line between the churchyard and the inn. Agreement was in fact reached. The Chancellor gave the Parochial Church Council (PCC) time to make representations regarding the boundary, after which the Chancellor would make a final order, which would include a declaration regarding the agreed boundary line and a prohibition against the owner of the inn doing any further lopping or felling or erecting a boundary fence or other demarcation. If the PCC wished to erect a fence in due course, they would need to apply for a faculty.

Re All Saints Garsdon [2021] ECC Bri 5

The petitioners applied for an amendment to a Faculty regarding the introduction of upholstered metal chairs to replace 7 pews that were removed under Faculty.  The Chancellor was persuaded that the chairs petitioned for would be appropriate in the particular circumstances of this case.

Re All Saints Harbury [2018] ECC Cov 5

The petitioners sought a faculty to allow a temporary reordering, authorised by the Archdeacon, to remain permanently. This included a children's area at the west end of the church, the removal of a large painting from the west wall, the permanent removal of six pews, and an information 'Hub'. There were four objectors, of whom one became a party opponent. The Chancellor concluded that the impact of the proposed changes on the appearance of the church would be modest, and that the proposals for providing information about the church to a growing population were appropriate. He accordingly granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Harbury [2022] ECC Cov 3

The proposed works to the church comprised electrical rewiring and new lighting; the installation of an audio-visual system; and a new heating system. The Diocesan Advisory Committee had some concerns about the proposal to install roof-mounted horizontal low temperature hot water radiant panel heaters. The Chancellor decided that the petitioners had shown a convincing argument for each part of the scheme and he granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Haslingfield [2021] ECC Ely 2

In March 2019 a stained glass window in the vestry had been removed under an emergency faculty. A confirmatory faculty was granted in July 2019. The petitioners now wished to have the window, a mixture of medieval and Victorian glass, repaired and reinstated. In a letter of objection, a former churchwarden stated that the window was an uninspiring mixture of disjointed pieces of glass, which did not befit the Grade I church, and that the pieces of glass should be put into storage for occasional display. The Chancellor saw no merit in the objector's arguments and granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Hawton [2021] ECC S&N 3

The proposal was to augment the ring of eight bells to ten. There were four letters of objection. Dealing with the objections, the Chancellor determined that there were no grounds for suggesting that the augmentation would put additional stress on the tower; there had been no failure by the Parochial Church Council to communicate the proposals to parishioners; and financial matters were for the Parochial Church Council to decide. He was satisfied that the proposal was appropriate and desirable and he granted a faculty.

Re All Saints Heathfield [2013] Mark Hill Ch. (Chichester)

The Chancellor refused to grant a faculty for the reservation of a grave space for the petitioner's mother (not a parishioner), there being only four or five empty grave spaces left in the churchyard.