Faculty granted for installation of a mezzanine floor in the north aisle of the church.

The petitioner's father had lived in Worcestershire for a short time before his death in 1989. The petitioner's late brother, a priest, had decided as a temporary measure to have his father's ashes interred at Fairfield, with a view to the ashes being reinterred in Great Amwell in Hertfordshire with the ashes of his mother after her death, which in fact occurred in 2011. The ashes of both parents were to be interred in a family grave at Great Amwell. Most of the family lived in or near Great Amwell, and the petitioner's father had lived in a cottage next to the churchyard. The Deputy Chancellor decided that there were exceptional circumstances to justify the exhumation and reinterment in the family grave.

The Parochial Church Council ("PCC") wished to replace the existing heating system with a new condensing boiler and wall-mounted fan convectors and radiators in the ungraded church. The Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the PCC had considered all alternative options and that the chosen system, "whilst not perfect in terms of carbon emission, was nevertheless a significant stride forward compared to the current system."

The vicar and churchwardens sought permission to replace the existing gas fuelled heating system with a new one, including a new boiler, pipework, radiators and controls in the unlisted, twentieth century church. The Chancellor granted a faculty. The judgment contains some comments by the Chancellor about the need for churches to work towards carbon neutrality.

The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty for the reservation of a grave space for 20 years, rather than for the customary 50 years. In view of the number of spaces available and the rate of interments, the graveyard could be full and closed before a longer reservation would need to be exercised. The Chancellor gave the petitioner leave to apply for an extension of the period of 20 years within six months of its expiry.

The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty for the reservation of a double depth grave space for the  period of 50 years usually allowed. He distinguished this case from Re St. Mark Ocker Hill Tipton [2022] ECC Lic 4, where he limited the reservation for 20 years, because the graveyard could be full and closed before a longer reservation would need to be exercised; in the present case, one of the joint petitioners was terminally ill, so that the double plot would be in use quite soon.

The petitioner sought a faculty to authorise the exhumation of the cremated remains of his father from the churchyard and reinterment in the cremated remains section of a nearby cemetery. The reason given was that the deceased's wife had died recently and she had wanted her cremated remains to be interred in the cemetery. The petitioner wished to unite the cremated remains of his father with the cremated remains of his mother in the same grave. In the light of the guidance in Re Blagdon Cemetery [2002] Fam 299, the Deputy Chancellor determined that there were no exceptional reasons to justify the grant of a faculty for the exhumation of the deceased’s remains.

There were proposals to reorder the vestry and serving area at the west end of the south aisle of the church (which works were approved by faculty in 2006), to include a lavatory. There was one objector. The Chancellor was satisfied that the petitioners had made a good case for the reordering, and that the proposals would not adversely harm the interior of the church. He accordingly granted a faculty. The Chancellor ordered the objector to pay the costs of the hearing.

The works proposed included improvements to the churchyard paths, including step-free access to the church, and in the course of such works the carrying out of archeological works with the objective of re-excavating a structure in the churchyard found by a nineteenth century incumbent but re-buried in 1929. This structure is believed to be the remains of a Saxon church. Letters of objection from two neighbours expressed concern about the impact of the works on the adjacent lane. The Chancellor was satisfied that the improvement of the paths would enhance the churchyard, and also examining, recording and securing for the future archaeological remains of national and possible international significance justified the granting of a faculty.

The vicar and churchwardens applied for a faculty to re-use the churchyard for burials. Though the churchyard was not closed by Order in Council, burials could now only take place in existing graves. There was one objector. A hearing was held, at which the Chancellor dismissed the objector's twelve grounds of objection as having no substance, in view of which, and also of the fact that the objector had refused to have the matter dealt with by written representations, the Chancellor directed that the objector should pay the costs of the half-day hearing.