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Alphabetical Index of all judgments on this web site as at 1 October 2022

Index by Dioceses of 2022 judgments on this web site as at 1 October 2022

Re All Saints and St. Nicholas Icklesham [2014] Mark Hill Ch. (Chichester)

Request for a memorial to a six weeks old infant, the design including an infant lying in a crib, several stars, and doves bearing olive branches. Per Chancellor: "In the tragic and exceptional circumstances of this case, an exceptional response is called for. I have no hesitation is approving the petition."

Re All Saints Ashwicken [2016] ECC Nor 4

In December 2015 the Chancellor granted a Faculty reserving a gravespace for the petitioners, who were not residents in the parish. The Chancellor placed a limit of 12 years on the reservation, as it was expected that the churchyard would be full within 12 years, and the Chancellor did not wish to prejudice the rights of burial of parishioners and others with a

Re All Saints Bakewell [2021] ECC Der 4

The vicar and churchwardens sought a faculty for repairs and overhaul of the church organ. The cost of the work was estimated at £135,000. There were two letters of objection, but the writers did not wish to be parties opponent. One objector disapproved of so much being spent on the church building compared to the amount spent on mission and growth. The second objector also considered that the amount to be spent on the organ could not be justified, when the organ was little used. The Chancellor granted a faculty: "In my judgment, issues relating to the cost of the works and the justification for spending money on the organ are primarily matters for the PCC, not for the Consistory Court."

Re All Saints Barrowby [2015] Mark Bishop Ch. (Lincoln)

The Petitioner, of Italian, wished to have her husband's cremated remains exhumed and interred in a family mausoleum in Italy, where she would also intend her own ashes to be interred. The reason for the request was that after the petitioner's death there would be no surviving family members in England to look after the grave, whereas the family in Italy would continue to look after the family mausoleum. Faculty granted.

Re All Saints Barrowby [2018] ECC Lin 3

A proposed reordering of the parish church included the removal of all the pews and their replacement with upholstered wooden chairs. The Victorian Society were not in favour of the removal of all the pews, and Historic England, whilst not objecting to the replacement of all the pews, objected to the chairs being upholstered, but if they were to be upholstered the fabric should be of a neutral colour. The Chancellor granted a faculty for (inter alia) the replacement of all the pews with upholstered chairs, provided that the fabric would be of a neutral colour, rather than the red colour originally proposed.

Re All Saints Barrowby [2019] ECC Lin 1

The ashes of the father of the petitioners were interred in 2013. The intention of the family was that in due time the petitioners' mother's ashes would be interred in the same grave plot. After the petitioners' mother died and the grave of their father was reopened, it was found that the grave was too shallow to take a second interment, and the mothers ashes had to be interred in a plot a few rows away. The petitioners now wished to have their mother's ashes exhumed and reinterred in a grave next to their father's grave. The Chancellor determined that there had been a 'mistake' in that the father's grave had been dug too shallow, which had frustrated the intentions of the family. He therefore decided that this was an exceptional situation where a faculty could be granted for exhumation and reinterment.

Re All Saints Bedworth [1999] Sir William Gage Ch. (Coventry)

The proposed reordering works included: a two floor narthex at the rear of the Church; moving of the screen and suspended rood; moving the font; extending a dais across the nave; disposal of surplus pews; revision of heating and lighting; and levelling of the nave floor. Retrospective approval of a new piano was also sought. There were twelve parties opponent. However, the Chancellor was satisfied that a case had been made for all the items with the exception of moving the suspended rood, and he granted a faculty accordingly. 

Re All Saints Biddenden [2020] ECC Can 1

The priest in charge and a churchwarden sought permission to reuse for burials two areas of the churchyard, which had not been used for burials since 1850. The Commissary General determined that it was appropriate to use the areas for reburials and she granted a faculty. For the benefit of other parishes in the diocese, she indicated that reburial would normally be allowed where there had been no burials in an area to be reused for at least 75 years.

Re All Saints Biddenden [2020] ECC Can 2

The petitioner wished to apply fine shingle or fine gravel to the area within the kerbs of two graves, for the purpose of weed suppression. The Parochial Church Council ("PCC") opposed the proposal, as the Churchyard Regulations provided that “kerbs, railings or chippings, whether raised or at ground level, are not permitted", and the PCC had been endeavouring to enforce the regulations. They would have preferred the kerbs to be removed. The Commissary General considered the factors in favour and against allowing the proposal and decided, on balance, to grant a faculty: there was no petition for the removal of the kerbs; the introduction of fine shingle would not make mowing or strimming more difficult; the appearance of fine shingle was more natural than chippings; and the fine shingle would slow down the growth of weeds.

Re All Saints Bingley [2016] ECC Lee 3

The petition related to improvements to the entrance and pathways to the church. This involved removal of a large number of old memorials which had been laid as paving during the 1900s. These memorials were inclined to be slippery underfoot when wet, giving rise to health and safety concerns. The Chancellor granted a faculty, subject to a condition that within nine months a report should be submitted concerning progress on the work and as to the most appropriate way to deal with the old memorials removed from the pathways.