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Re All Saints, Maidstone

Commissary Court of Canterbury: Ellis Com Gen, 10 April 2015 Unlawful removal of pews – scope of archdeacon's licences – restoration order

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2015

Ruth Arlow
Ruth Arlow*
Affiliation:
Chancellor of the Diocese of Norwich
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Information

Type
Case Notes
Information
Ecclesiastical Law Journal , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 397 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2015 

The petitioners sought a restoration order in respect of a number of pews which had been removed at the behest of the churchwardens, one having been removed between one and two years previously and the other three in early 2015. No authority had been obtained for the removal of the single pew. The three pews removed in 2015 were purportedly removed on the authority of an archdeacon's licence for temporary minor re-ordering given under rule 7.14 of the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2013. In fact the works were begun before the licence was issued. In any event, the Commissary General held that the grant of the licence was ultra vires. As the removal of the pews involved the cutting or loss of the feet by which they were attached to their platforms and cutting the leg of one of the pews, their removal involved an interference with the fabric of the church contrary to rule 7.14(3)(a). The damage done also meant that the works purportedly authorised by the licence involved the moving of items which could not easily be reinstated, contrary to rule 7.14(3)(c). Moreover, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) had not been involved in making the application for the licence.

Accordingly, the works were unlawful and the court had a discretion whether to make a restoration order under section 13(5) of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991. Although the damage occasioned by the removal of the pews was not extensive, the pews formed part of a grade I listed building and their removal resulted in some loss of heritage significance which was not justified or outweighed by considerations of public benefit under the Duffield guidelines. The Commissary General made a restoration order in relation to the pews but suspended the operation of the order for an initial period of four months to give the respondent churchwardens an opportunity to petition for a confirmatory faculty following discussion with Historic England and the Victorian Society and consideration of the matter by the PCC. The outcome of any such petition remained an open question. A provisional order was made that the respondent churchwardens pay the court costs, on the understanding that that payment would not be made personally. [Alexander McGregor]