The rector and churchwardens sought a faculty permitting the incumbent to authorise memorials with modest uncoloured pictures in the modern churchyard extension of this mediaeval church. A substantial majority of the memorials erected in the extension since its acquisition around 20 years before had pictures on them and six of the seven most recent requests for memorials had included requests for pictures. The new rector found himself in an increasingly difficult pastoral position having to justify the refusal of permission for such memorials, creating a sense of injustice in those refused. The Churchyard Regulations only permitted size-limited pictures with clear Christian or traditional funerary symbolism or ones which reflected the work of the deceased.

The chancellor noted the need to balance the interests of those seeking to introduce memorials against those of the wider community. She noted that the Churchyard Regulations are the limited delegation of a wide discretion as to the type of memorials permissible in churchyards and are created for the purposes of administrative efficiency. They are intended to create fairness and a consistency of treatment and to promote peace and good order within churchyards. Memorials outside the Regulations were to be encouraged where they were of high quality and carefully conceived. The setting of the particular churchyard was of relevance, as was the aesthetic impact of a memorial. Memorials which are appropriate in one setting might be inappropriate in another. In this case the extension was entirely separate and heavily screened from the ancient churchyard. The chancellor granted the faculty subject to conditions as to the pictures to be permitted. Pictures could be permitted which reflected the life or work of the deceased, in line with the limitations in the Churchyard Regulations on inscriptions. Pictures must not be inconsistent with Christian theology and doctrine and must not be transitory in nature. They must be uncoloured and not occupy more than one-third of the face of the stone. [RA]