Re: St. Andrews, Bebington (Chester Consistory Court; Lomas Ch. 24 November 1988)

In considering proposals for the extensive re-ordering of the interior of a church which was a Grade I listed building, the Chancellor considered that the Guidelines given by the Dean of Arches in Re St. Mary's Banbury (1987) 3WLR 717 were strictly obiter dicta since in that case a faculty was refused for wholly different reasons. The Chancellor derived support in that approach from Re St. Stephen's Walbrook (1987) 3WLR 726, and it mattered not that the decision of the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved did not strictly overrule Re St. Mary's Banbury. In having regard to the listing of the building and the possibility that the desired change was the result of passing fashion, the Chancellor concluded that the change in forms of worship (which largely prompted the desire for re-ordering) gave the impression of progressing along a steady line, and was likely to con- tinue for the forseeable future. On the merits, the proposals (including the provision of a modified Ministry Area) were approved in part.

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(1990) 2 Ecc LJ 3