In considering the petition of the vicar and churchwardens for a confirmatory faculty in respect of a memorial that had been introduced into a churchyard without lawful authority, the chancellor observed that the previous incumbent had purported to give permission for the introduction of the memorial in question despite the fact that it was ‘manifestly outside the authority delegated to incumbents in the [diocesan] Churchyard Rules’. The chancellor also drew attention to the notice contained in a certificate from the diocesan advisory committee in respect of the memorial to the effect that it did not amount to permission to proceed with the proposals concerned. Furthermore, under a yet earlier incumbent a number of other memorials that did not fall within the incumbent's delegated authority had been introduced.

Although there was no suggestion that the present incumbent was responsible for allowing any memorials to be introduced without the requisite authority, the chancellor had, with her agreement, withdrawn the authority that would otherwise have been delegated to her under the Churchyard Rules. Although he granted a confirmatory faculty as sought, the chancellor said that it was ‘deplorable that there have been so many apparent breaches of the Churchyard Rules and the faculty jurisdiction’. At the request of the present incumbent the chancellor continued the withdrawal of the incumbent's delegated authority for another five years, in the hope that this would help her in what continued to be a difficult pastoral situation. [Alexander McGregor]