The petitioner sought a faculty for a proposed gravestone which was in several respects outside the diocesan churchyard regulations; it would be of polished blue granite, in the form of a double heart, flanked by engraved lilies in green and white. ‘Local cemetery rules’ existed in relation to the churchyard, but these had not been approved by the chancellor. They purported to permit memorials which were, in some respects, not permitted by the diocesan regulations; in particular, they purported to permit the use of polished stone. It was estimated that some 80 per cent of the memorials in this graveyard fell outside the regulations, being of polished stone. The team rector, archdeacon and Diocesan Advisory Committee supported the application on pragmatic grounds. However, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) opposed it as undermining their efforts to resist applications for memorials outside the regulations.

The deputy chancellor considered the judgment in Re St Saviour, Ringley [2018] ECC Man 3, which set out the principles to apply in cases such as this. Good or substantial reason was required before a memorial falling outside the diocesan regulations was permitted; this was a matter of justice to other families who had put aside their personal preferences and accepted a memorial conforming to the regulations. Circumstances which might provide a sufficient reason included where there were already so many similar examples in the churchyard that it would be unconscionable to refuse consent for one more. In the present case, the deputy chancellor acknowledged that few of the existing memorials in the graveyard complied fully with the regulations. However, the proposed memorial was a far more substantial departure from the regulations than any other memorial there, and would be likely to overshadow its neighbours. The deputy chancellor declined to grant the faculty sought. Nevertheless, the regulations had been so widely ignored in this churchyard that the deputy chancellor would be prepared to permit a memorial that departed from the regulations in two respects: the use of polished stone and the inclusion of a monochrome motif or insignia would be permitted. The incumbent and PCC were encouraged to draw up a set of parochial churchyard rules to be submitted for the chancellor's approval as soon as possible. [David Willink]