Lincoln Consistory Court; Goodman Ch. July 1997

A faculty was sought for the sale of a seventeenth-century painting in the school of Teniers which had been given to the parish in 1950 and was worth in the order of £2,500. The painting had recently been the subject of a theft during which the frame had been stolen but the canvas not. The Chancellor referred to Re St Gregory's, Tredington [1972] Fam 236, [1971] 3 All ER 269, Re St Helen's, Brant Broughton [1974] Fam 16, [1973] 3 All ER 386. and Re St Mary the Virgin, Burton Latimer (1995) 4 Ecc LJ 527, and concluded that in this instance it would be right to permit the sale since (i) the painting was not thought to be of any artistic merit (in this the CCC concurred); (ii) it had been a small gift to the church unconnected with its design or decoration; (iii) it had suffered serious vandalism which could be repeated hence it was presently kept in a bank vault; (iv) there were urgent works which needed to be carried out at the church including repairs to stained glass damaged by vandals; and (v) the donor's descendants consented to the disposal.

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(1998) 5 Ecc LJ 69