A faculty was sought to add protective bars to a set of railings around a Grade II listed Victorian church. The church stood on a plinth with railings at the edge of the plinth, closed by means of gates, which generally remained locked. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) sought to make the railings safer after a child, climbing the railings in search of his frisbee, had impaled his jaw on the fleur-de-lys finials on top of the railings. The insurers had recommended that the risk be addressed but had not made particular recommendations about the action to be taken. The Diocesan Advisory Committee accepted that action was needed but opposed the use of bars as being unsightly. They suggested that the gates should be left open or the fleur-de-lys ground down to reduce risk of injury. The PCC argued that the gates needed to be locked for security and that the issue was the force of fall on the railings if climbed, not the sharpness of the finials. The chancellor accepted the PCC's arguments about security and risk and granted the faculty as requested on the basis that the smoothing of the finials would lower the railings, making them less effective for security, and would damage their appearance more than the bars. [Catherine Shelley]