The petitioners sought a faculty to introduce TV screens and speakers on the columns forming the nave arcade of this recently re-ordered Grade I listed church. Historic England had objected, on the basis that they would be highly visible and jar with the established aesthetic. It urged alternative locations for the speakers, and mounting the screens on mobile units that could be stored when not in use.

The court was satisfied as to the need for the screens. The mission which the church had set itself, beyond its liturgical use, would be enhanced by the use of screens, and the drop-down screen in the chancel arch was not clearly visible to those sitting in the aisles. By their nature, screens need to be located where they are clearly visible. Mobile screens were not the solution; problems of storage, hazards and additional burdens on volunteers militated against such an approach. The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) had made recommendations which would form conditions of the faculty: that the screens should have white or no bezels, and that they should manage any images so that they blended in with the light background of the pillars when they were ‘at rest’; that they should be no wider than the pillar against which they were to be set; and that the method of fixing the screens to the pillars would be subject to DAC approval.

Unlike screens, speakers do not need to be seen; mounting them on the columns would be significantly intrusive. Consultants produced three options, of which only the most expensive – steerable-beam loudspeakers mounted at a high level – would ensure both effectiveness and unintrusiveness. The increased cost simply represented the true cost of the scheme that the petitioners sought to introduce. A faculty would be issued accordingly. [DW]