Legal Matters

Introduction

1.1 Our church buildings are “spiritual landmarks” in our communities, often of very great historical and architectural importance, in addition to their significance for their congregations.

1.2 Very many church buildings in the Diocese of Oxford are listed buildings, or situated within conservation areas. Although we are exempt from listed building control, it is important to know the listing of your building, and whether it is in a conservation area.

1.3 Before you undertake any work to your Church, you should consider whether you need any formal permission to do so:

• Some routine maintenance work can be undertaken without any permission (work in the so-called de minimis category);
• Some temporary rearrangements, for up to 15 months, may be undertaken by permission of the Archdeacon;
• Most work (including quinquennial repair work) needs formal authorisation by faculty of the Archdeacon or Chancellor;
• Work which affects the external appearance of a church or churchyard is likely also to need planning permission, from the local planning authority

1.4 If you are unsure about the permission you need, you should consult the Diocesan Registry. You should speak to John Rees (the Diocesan Registrar), or to Lucy Scott (the Registry Clerk). They may be contacted at:

Oxford Diocesan Registry
16 Beaumont Street
Oxford OX1 2LZ

Tel: 01865 297200
Mobile: 07973 327417
Fax: 01865 726274
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Emergency Work

2. It can take a little time to obtain a faculty, but in emergency (if there is a health and safety risk, for example, due to loose masonry; or if there is a threat to the security of the building, for example, as a result of vandalism), the Chancellor is usually able to issue an “interlocutory” faculty over the telephone, and with minimal consultation. In such circumstances, you should telephone the Registry immediately you discover the problem.

Consultation with DAC

3.1 In normal circumstances, however, you should first consult the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches ("the DAC”). The DAC meets on the second Monday in every month (except August), and its members have a wide range of expertise in all aspects of church conservation work, reordering, furnishings, textiles and repairs. As soon as you have a clear idea of what you want to do, you should speak to the DAC Secretary, so that your project can be put on the DAC’s agenda. The DAC Secretary is Mary Saunders, and she can be contacted as follows:

Mrs M A L Saunders
Diocesan Advisory Committee
Diocesan Church House
North Hinksey
Oxford OX2 ONB

Tel: 01865 208200
Fax: 01865 790470
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

3.2 You will be asked to supply two complete sets of plans, specification, estimates, and other details, together with information about relevant architects and contractors you propose to employ for the project.

3.3 If the proposals concern an organ, bells or a clock they should first be referred to the Committee's Advisers on these matters. These Advisers' names are listed in the Diocesan Year Book. They will comment to you on the technical merits of the proposals and their comments should then be referred to the DAC Secretary to assist the Committee in considering the aesthetic and other aspects involved.

3.4 Sometimes the consultation with the DAC will be a purely paper exercise, but quite often it involves a visit to your Church by one or two members of the DAC, who then report their findings to the next meeting. You are likely to find that the DAC’s insights will help you put your project into a wider context, and you may find that you will want to review your approach to the project in the light of their comments.

3.5 During the course of the consultation with the DAC, it may become apparent that you should also consult with the Council for the Care of Churches, English Heritage and/or one of the other national bodies (such as the Victorian Society) listed in Appendix I. If so, you will need to send that body a complete set of papers, and invite their comments on your proposals. You may find that a further round of consultation with the DAC will then be necessary, if your own plans are modified in the light of comments received from one of them.

3.6 After consultation, the Secretary will issue a certificate indicating whether the DAC endorses your proposal, opposes it, or adopts a neutral stance. Quite often, the DAC will make some recommendation as to conditions that should be imposed by the Chancellor or Archdeacon (for example, in relation to archaeology). Matters such as this are likely to have been raised with you during the course of the consultation.

Statements of Significance and Need

4.1 Meanwhile, if your church is a listed building and your proposals involve significant changes to the building, you will have been asked to prepare a Statement of Significance (a statement setting out the proposals in detail, and indicating the impact they would have on the building as a building of architectural or historic importance), and a Statement of Need (explaining why you believe it is important to undertake this work - especially if it would have a serious impact on the layout or setting of your building).

4.2 It is not possible to give an exhaustive definition of what would constitute a “significant change”. For helpful guidance and illustration of the concept, however, see Appendix II, Making Changes to a Listed Building. If you are in any doubt, you should discuss the proposals at an early stage with the Registrar or DAC Secretary.

4.3 In practice, it should not be too difficult to prepare such statements, when they are needed. You are likely to have thought out many of the issues in connection with the presentation of the proposals to the PCC or wider congregation at an earlier stage. Whether or not you have to prepare such a statement, it can be a useful exercise, in order to clear your own mind about the significance of the work you wish to undertake.

Public Notice

5.1 When the details of the proposals have been settled with the DAC, and you have consulted with any other bodies (if appropriate), you must alert the wider community to the proposals. This is done in several ways:

• In all cases, public notices have to be put up both inside and outside the parish church, for a period of 28 days. The form of notice can be obtained from the Registry, or downloaded from Appendix III
  If you are proposing “significant changes” to the building, you will need to display your detailed plans inside the church for the whole period until a faculty is granted
• In certain cases, you may be asked to refer your proposals to the Council for the Care of Churches (the DAC Secretary is likely to have raised this with you, in appropriate cases, but you may be asked to do so by the Registrar or Chancellor, in appropriate cases)
• In many cases involving listed buildings, you may have been asked to notify English Heritage or other national amenity societies, and the local authority (as advised by the Registrar or DAC Secretary). If you have not been in touch with them, the Chancellor may direct you to do so at this stage
• In some cases of alterations to listed buildings, you will have had to insert an advertisement in a local paper (as advised by the Registrar)

It is always best to refer matters to bodies such as English Heritage sooner rather than later. If you are at all unsure about these publicity or consultation arrangements, you should discuss them with the Registry or the DAC secretary as early in the process as possible.

5.2 The wording of the public notices needs to be clear and concise. The rules require that the proposed works be “fully and accurately stated”. To avoid confusion or misunderstanding, you should adopt the same wording for each document, so that the wording you use on your public notice should correspond with the wording on the DAC certificate, and should also be the description of the works/proposals as they appear on the Schedule to the Petition. Please do not merely put “See accompanying plans”, as that does not give a clear summary as to the scope of the proposed work; but you may elaborate your proposals by reference to other documents, once you have set out clearly the nature of the work you hope to do. If in doubt, consult the Registry or the DAC Secretary.

5.3 Where work is being undertaken which materially affects the external appearance of the building or churchyard, the Chancellor will be unable to make a final determination until he knows the views of the local planning authority. Unfortunately, different planning authorities take different approaches to a number of matters such as floodlighting, which, depending upon the authority’s view may, or may not, constitute a material alteration in the appearance of the building. If in doubt, have a word with your local planning authority; relevant contact details are given in Appendix V.

Petition

6.1 When you are ready to put your proposals before the Chancellor or Archdeacon, you should complete the form of petition (available in printed form from the Registry, or downloaded from Appendix IV below). The form is accompanied by guidance notes which you should read carefully before you complete it. It is also colour-coded: you must complete the red sections, but need only complete those parts of the blue sections which apply to your situation.

6.2 When you have completed it, you should send the following documents to the Registry (together with any others which are prompted by the checklist on page13 of the Petition):

• Petition (normally in the name of the incumbent and churchwardens, and signed by them)
• DAC certificate
• PCC Resolution
• Copy public notice
• Detailed plans, specifications, estimates or other descriptive material (as applicable)

In some cases, further documents are needed:

• If you are doing work which involves electrical installations or scaffolding, you will need to produce a simple letter of consent from your insurers, confirming that they are aware of the work you wish to do, and will continue to hold the building covered under your present policy, without amendment or further premium
• If you have received a grant at any time in the past from English Heritage, you will need to produce a letter from them confirming their agreement (in accordance with the conditions imposed at the time when you received the previous grant from them)
• If the work you are undertaking may require planning consent, you will need to produce the consent, or a letter from the local planning authority confirming that they do not consider that they should be involved.

6.3 After completion of the 28-day period of public notice, you should complete the certificate on the form and return it to the Registry

6.4 No fee is payable for petitions relating to ordinary parish proposals; but court fees and other legal costs may arise if the petition is opposed by objectors to the proposals. If the matter is likely to be contested, you will be made aware of this at an early stage. The Registrar, whilst remaining impartial as to the merits of the proposals and any objections, will be very willing to meet with the parties, if requested to do so, in order to ensure that everyone involved is fully aware of the procedures and implications of contested faculty proceedings.

6.5 After a faculty has been granted, and the work implemented, it will be the duty of the Petitioners to ensure that a copy of the Completion Certificate is kept with the parish records and further copies are sent to the Registrar and the Archdeacon.

Some Other Types of Proposal

Demolition of Churches (including partial demolition)
Disinterments and Reinterments
Church Extensions and Sale of Church Goods

7.1 In all such cases application should be made firstly to the Registrar, who will give instructions on the procedure to be followed.

Grave Space Reservations

7.2 Grave spaces may only be reserved by faculty, and the maximum period of reservation permitted by law is 100 years. In practice, the Chancellor will generally only grant a faculty to reserve the space for 25 years, but if this is likely to cause difficulty, he is prepared to consider an extension of time. In these cases it is not necessary for the matter to be referred to the Diocesan Advisory Committee and application should be made directly to the Registrar who will supply the special form of Petition that is required, and details of fees payable. Save in exceptional circumstances, it will be a condition of the grant of every faculty for the reservation of a grave space that the Petitioner pay the sum of £200 to the P.C.C. of the parish concerned as a contribution towards the cost of maintaining the churchyard. A letter confirming that the Petitioner is prepared to make this payment should accompany the Petition when it is submitted.

7.3 The plan accompanying the Petition should be properly surveyed showing the area of the churchyard concerned and precise measurements relating to the position of the grave space to be reserved from at least two fixed points. There should be a north point shown on the plan. The description of the plot in the Schedule on the first page of the application should contain reference to each measurement shown on the plan. This is necessary to avoid any confusion that might arise in the future.

Memorial Tablets

7.4 A faculty will not normally be granted for the erection of a memorial tablet inside any church within the Diocese until a period of five years has elapsed from the date of death of the person to be commemorated. Exceptions are sometimes made to this general rule, where an individual has given outstanding service to the church in which it is sought to install the memorial tablet. You should discuss the situation with the Registrar before making any application for exceptional treatment.

7.5 Proposed inscriptions should be submitted to the Diocesan Advisory Committee for approval before a design is prepared in order to avoid unnecessary expense and delay.

Further Information

8.1 These notes are necessarily brief, and are intended only to give a simple overview. For more detailed guidance, you should read carefully the Information section of the Diocesan Year Book.

8.2 For useful guidance on all aspects of churchyard maintenance, you may like to consult the Churchyards Handbook; and there is a helpful series of small booklets relating to many aspects of church buildings, their furnishings, and repairs, issued by the Council for the Care of Churches. All these items may be obtained through the Church House Bookshop, contactable through the Church of England website (www.cofe.anglican.org).

8.3 For an imaginative approach to reordering church buildings, you may like to consult Richard Giles, Repitching the Tent (Canterbury Press, 1995); and current reported cases concerning church building work can be found on the Ecclesiastical Law Society website (www.ecclawsoc.org)

8.4 Above all, do feel free at any time to consult the Registrars or the DAC Secretary. They are there to help, and it is always better if they are involved at an early stage, especially in relation to major and complex projects.

Revd Canon John Rees
Diocesan Registry
16 Beaumont Street
Oxford OX1 2LZ

1 January 2001

National Amenity Societies

The Ancient Monuments Society

The Council for British Archaeology

The Georgian Group

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

The Victorian Society

The Twentieth Century Society

The Council for the Care of Churches

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
If the works or purposes affect, or are likely to affect, a grave or memorial maintained by the CWGC, the petitioners should seek its agreement with the proposal. If such agreement cannot be obtained, the Chancellor will require a special notice to be served on the Commission by the Registrar, giving it the right to enter an appearance in the Consistory Court.

English Nature
If bats use any part of the church, and it is possible that the works or purposes might harm or disturb the bats or their roosts, the advice of English Nature should be obtained before there is a petition for a faculty, and the letter of advice submitted with the faculty petition.