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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 St. Luke Formby [2015] Sir Mark Hedley Ch. (Liverpool)

The proposals included removal of the choir stalls and pulpit; introduction of a nave dais to allow a forward altar; the addition of a second screen to the wall behind the present pulpit to match the existing screen on the south side of the church; two flat screen monitors to the chancel; two loudspeakers in the chancel; and relocation of the AV control desk to the rear of the church. The Victorian Society objected to the removal of the pulpit and choir stalls. Faculty granted by the Chancellor, being satisfied that "in order to provide a living church, meeting the pastoral and liturgical needs of the current population, this reordering needs to take place."

Re St. Luke Headless Cross [2011] Charles Mynors Ch. (Worcester)

The faculty petition proposed several items of reordering. The Victorian Society (which did not become a party opponent) was concerned about the effect of the removal of both the front and rear choir stalls and desks from the chancel. The Chancellor was concerned that no firm proposals had been put forward regarding what would replace the choir stalls and desks and how the walls behind them would be treated. He granted a faculty for all the items of reordering, apart from the removal of all the choir pews and desks. But he gave permission for the removal of the front rows of choir pews and desks, to give time for the petitioners to review the effect of the partial removal of the pews and desks. If they wished to remove the rear pews and desks, then they would have to make a further application to the Chancellor, with detailed proposals for replacement furniture.

Re St. Luke Lodge Moor [2021] ECC She 3

The Chancellor granted a faculty for the extension of the church (which was built in 1966 and is unlisted) and internal reordering, in order to provide more worship space and space for meetings; to provide a café/drop-in style meeting place; and to alter the appearance of the exterior to create a more attractive and welcoming entrance.

Re St. Luke Maidenhead [2017] ECC Oxf 1

Notwithstanding his concerns that there had not been adequate consultation during the faculty process, the Chancellor granted a faculty for reordering, which included the creation of a new vicar’s vestry in the Parish Centre; rearrangement of the west end of the church, including the removal of 6 pews, to provide additional storage, the serving of refreshments after services, and a larger meeting space.

Re St. Luke Middlestown [2018] ECC Lee 1

The petitioners were the priest in charge and a churchwarden of an unlisted church built in 1974. Their proposal was to remove 18 pews and introduce 100 wooden chairs with red upholstery. The DAC did not recommend the proposal, stating that the chairs were heavy and would be difficult to move, and the dark red upholstered chairs would be detrimental to the light levels and appearance of the church interior. At a visit to the church and to a neighbouring church, which already had the same type of chair as that proposed, the Chancellor was satisfied that the chairs were not too heavy or difficult to stack. Moreover, the existing pews (acquired from another church) were painted with a yellowish colour and were looking chipped and tired, and they easily slid on the parquet floor, if leaned on. The Chancellor was satisfied that the chairs were a better and more comfortable alternative to the pews and he therefore granted a faculty.

Re St. Luke Norland [2003] Peter Collier Ch. (Wakefield)

Having already granted a faculty to authorise the replacement of pews with chairs and the removal and disposal of the pulpit and the font, the Chancellor delivered this judgment to explain his reasons for granting the faculty. The reason for the proposals was to enable the church to accommodate two children's groups which had previously met in a now dilapidated building in the churchyard. The pews were plain and had no particular value historically or artistically; the pulpit  was freestanding and not original to the building, being dated 1924; and the font had been heavily painted with a matt cream paint which had obscured its decorative features. Neither the pulpit nor the font were of historic value.

Re St. Luke Southport [2020] ECC Liv 2

A faculty was sought for the installation of glazed timber screening to the south side transept chapel; disabled access to the chapel; and a new heating system; as well as a confirmatory faculty for the installation of a Frank Bodley reredos above the altar, which had been donated from a redundant church in Liverpool. The Chancellor granted a faculty. He was satisfied that the screening of the chapel, whilst constituting some modest harm to the building, would not cause a significant impact, and the work would be reversible in the future, if the need arose. Also, any harm would be outweighed by the benefit of having a useful small worship or meeting space which was economic to heat.

Re St. Luke Tutshill [2017] ECC Glo 1

The Rector and Churchwardens petitioned to install a heraldic hatchment with the coat of arms of the Collins family of Adlestrop Park in the nave or in the north transept of the church. There were already in the church three hatchments of the Leigh family, who had owned Adlestrop Park from 1553 until it was sold to the Collins family during the last century. A parishioner objected that "Church hatchments were to mark the death of a ‘Lord of the Manor’ ... only a family which has strong ties over several generations should have such a display.”  The Chancellor was satisfied that hatchments, if displaying legally authorised Coats of Arms, can still with sufficient reason be introduced by Faculty. [Note: Jane Austen is believed to have regularly visited Adlestrop.]

Re St. Lupus Kirk Malew [2020] EC Sodor 1

The petitioner applied for a faculty to put kerbs around her late husband's grave. Footings for the kerbs had already been laid without a faculty first being obtained. Although there were several sets of kerbs in other parts of the churchyard, a decision had been made by the church in 1987 not to allow kerbs in the particular row where the petitioner had applied to reserve a grave, because the path at the foot of the graves narrowed, and to allow kerbs along the row would ultimately restrict the path and inhibit access for maintenance machinery. The widow had agreed at the time she reserved the grave that kerbs would not be allowed. The Deputy Vicar General dismissed the petition and directed that the kerb footings should be removed.

Re St. Margaret & All Hallows Orford [2021] ECC Liv 5

The petitioner wished to have the cremated remains of her father, who died in 2000, exhumed from Orford churchyard and reinterred? in the grave of her mother, whose ashes had been interred in Warrington Cemetery about 18 months before the death of the petitioner's father. The petitioner's mother had been a Roman Catholic and her father had been an Anglican. The petitioner claimed that, at the time of her father's death, the family mistakenly thought he had to be buried in an Anglican grave. She also stated that the family now wished to have the couple united in a family grave. The Chancellor decided that there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the grant of a faculty: the issue as to where the petitioner's father could be buried could have been decided shortly after his death; a long period had elapsed since the interment; and there was no support for the exhumation from the parish.