Ancient laws take a bite out of English landowners

A couple are to be ordered to pay £95,000 for repairs to a 13th-century parish church because their nearby farm was formerly church land. The House of Lords ruled yesterday that ancient laws meant that Gail and Andrew Wallbank are liable to help with the upkeep of St John the Baptist Church in Aston Cantlow, Warwickshire.

The test case affects thousands of smallholders. About 5,000 parish churches could now enforce similar orders on private individuals who own former glebe land — church land that was often rented out to bring in funds for parish maintenance. . .

The Wallbanks became liable for the repairs to the church chancel when they inherited Glebe Farm in Aston Cantlow — where Shakespeare’s parents were married — from Mrs Wallbank’s father. The land is a quarter of a mile from the church but it formerly belonged to the church as glebe land. After the Reformation, the glebe land passed into private ownership and the owner was appointed “lay rector” of the parish.

About 5,000 parishes have lay rectors, of which nearly 3,000 are private individuals. In return for their liability for chancel repairs, lay rectors were once entitled to tithes, a tenth of the value of parishioners’ labour. However, these tithes were abolished in 1936.

The penalty for refusing to pay for chancel repairs used to be excommunication, backed up by a possible committal by the High Court for contempt of the ecclesiastical court. Since 1932, parochial church councils have been entitled to sue lay rectors in civil courts.

Posted by David on June 27, 2003 11:28 PM