FACULTY JURISDICTION
THE CHANCELLOR’S JURISDICTION
The Chancellor has jurisdiction over all parish churches in the diocese and the churchyards belonging to them, and has the right to grant a faculty or licence for all alterations, additions, removals, or repairs to the fabric, ornaments or furniture of churches, chapels, and churchyards. It is to the Chancellor and not to the Bishop that petitions for faculties have to be presented.
Separate provisions apply to churches which have been declared redundant.
THE BASIS OF THE JURISDICTION
The jurisdiction of the Chancellor has existed for centuries. The ecclesiastical courts have always controlled alterations allowable in churches and other structures on consecrated ground, and have emphasised that they exist to ensure that the church ‘shall not be injured or deformed by the caprice of individuals’ (as an earlier court stated).
It has also to be borne in mind that the parish priest, the churchwardens, and the PCC are acting as trustees during their term of office. As another court stated – ‘a church has a future as well as a past. It belongs not to any one generation nor are its interests and condition the exclusive care of those who inhabit the parish at any one period of time.’ Any proposal for alterations in a parish church must always bear this in mind.
At the same time, church buildings are not simply historic monuments; they exist for a purpose – the worship of God and the mission of his Church – and they have a vital role to play in that task. So the 1991 Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure begins by providing that ‘any person or body carrying out functions of care and conservation … shall have regard to the role of the church as a local centre of worship and mission.’
WHEN A FACULTY IS REQUIRED
In principle, no alterations, repairs, removals, additions or maintenance may take place in or to a church building or its curtilage without Faculty permission. The following paper (on minor or de minimis repairs) gives the exceptions to this general principle.
Under Canon Law it is the duty of the priest and churchwardens to obtain a faculty before any work is executed. At the same time, it is the responsibility of the PCC to care for and maintain the fabric of the church building, and they too should not put any work in hand until a faculty has been obtained.
If by mischance any work is put in hand without faculty permission, a confirmatory faculty should be sought as soon as the mistake has been discovered. The Chancellor will want to know what good reason brought about this lapse from the observance of the law. It is also the case that the grant of a confirmatory faculty is not automatic, and it has been known for Chancellors to require a priest, churchwardens and PCC to remedy the work put in hand without a faculty; costs for this will fall on the parish. It can therefore be seen to be vital to everyone’s interests to see that the law in these matters is scrupulously observed.
PROCEDURE FOR A FACULTY
PCCs are strongly advised to approach the secretary of the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC) at the Diocesan Office at an early stage in its plans for work to the church, and to seek its advice before detailed plans are put in hand; this may not be necessary, however, when the work envisaged is a matter of maintenance or repairs on a like-for-like basis. If the plans are major or controversial, members of the DAC may well wish to visit the parish and discuss the plans.
When the PCC is ready to petition for a faculty, the necessary forms are again available from the secretary of the DAC. The petition will need to be accompanied by detailed plans and architect’s specifications. Any petition involving electrical work must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the insurance company. If the church has ever received grant aid from English Heritage or its predecessor body, the petition must also be accompanied by a letter from English Heritage giving approval to the proposed works.
Once the DAC has recommended the works, and the period for citation has elapsed, the Diocesan Registrar passes the faculty petition to the Chancellor (or in cases where the works are like-for-like and uncontroversial, to the Archdeacon), who then decides whether or not to issue the faculty. If there are any objections as a result of the Citation, or from such bodies as English Heritage, then unless the differences are reconciled, the Petition may be dealt with after a Consistory Court.
FEES
Where the petitioners for a faculty are the parish priest and churchwardens acting on behalf of the PCC, no fees are payable by them, and the costs are defrayed by the Diocesan Board of Finance.
However, where individuals or other organisations submit faculty applications – whether for works in a closed churchyard, or for memorials, windows, plaques, reservation of grave spaces or whatever – such applicants do incur statutory fees, details of which may be obtained from the Diocesan Registrar.
PLANNING PERMISSION
Faculty Jurisdiction exempts listed parish churches from Listed Building Control which otherwise would cover both external and internal works. However, any substantial external works to a church, especially additions to the building, and works which materially alter the appearance of a building or its curtilage, may well require planning permission from the local authority. The secretary of the DAC will always be pleased to advise parishes on this matter.