|
|
|
Ecclesiastical Case Reports
Re St Andrew (Old Church), Hove
(Chichester Consistory Court: Hill Ch, July 2005)
Exhumation
The petitioners sought a faculty for the exhumation of the cremated remains of their father, interred in 1976, to be reburied in Hove Cemetery in the same grave as his widow, interred in 2001. The reasons given were that the churchyard had deteriorated and vagrants were frequently present making the area dangerous and unpleasant (the late widow of the deceased had been mugged on one occasion whilst visiting the grave), and that as the churchyard had been closed for burials the late widow could not be buried alongside her late husband. The incumbent had no objections to the petition. The chancellor reviewed the relevant law, acknowledging that the churchyard had been in poor condition, although it had recently been improved. The chancellor could find no special circumstances to justify granting the petition. If the state of a churchyard or the clientele it attracted were a special circumstance, then the concept of portable remains would gain considerable currency and the permanence of Christian burial would be compromised. The chancellor also gave weight to the fact that there had been a considerable lapse of time since 1976, and that the proposed re-interment would not be in consecrated ground. Whilst balancing against these matters the fact that the petition was supported by the incumbent and that it would create a family grave in circumstances where land was scarce, the petition was nonetheless refused.
[JG]
|
Search the Case Reports & Journals (issues 1 to 39) |
|
|
