Memorandum submitted by the Advisory Board
for Redundant Churches
1. The Advisory Board for Redundant Churches
is the statutory advisor to the Church Commissioners on the future
of churches no longer needed for worship. In dealing with proposals
for redundancy, the Commissioners take into account pastoral,
financial and heritage considerations. The Board advises on all
aspects of heritage value, including:
— site history and setting;
— archaeological aspects below and
above ground;
— all kinds of diverse church contents—bells,
glass, monuments, seating, fixtures and fittings;
The Board's members and staff comprise one of
the most comprehensive sources of expertise on Anglican ecclesiastical
heritage in the country.
2. In offering its advice, the Board's principal
task is twofold:
— to identify, define and evaluate
heritage value;
— when considering the insertion of
new uses, to assess how far a building can be changed without
damaging what the new use is intended to preserve.
Consequently, the work of the Board is highly
relevant to the Select Committee's inquiry into protecting and
preserving our heritage.
3. The Board's advice, accepted by the Church
Commissioners in over 90% of cases, covers three possible outcomes
when a church is no longer needed for worship. (Bracketed % refer
to 113 cases from 2000-2004).
— Churches of outstanding value and
with little scope for change without serious damage to that value
are vested in the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) on behalf
of the nation and the Church of England (11%).
— Appropriate alternative uses are
sought for churches of special value; for the best there is an
option of last-resort vesting rather than demolition (72%).
— Churches of little merit or beyond
reasonable repair are demolished (17%).
4. Insertion of an alternative use—in
nearly three-quarters of all cases—will usually be the greatest
change the historic building has ever experienced. The Board identifies
important features that should be preserved by incorporation into
plans for alternative uses. This helps prevent these features
being ignored until after a scheme has been devised, causing avoidable
confrontation and expense. Generally, balances have to be struck,
and here are two examples.
— An imposing large 19th century urban
church with a relatively plain interior. Conversion into multiple
flats or affordable housing completely filling interior spaces
can be achieved as long as any necessary new windows in the walls
or roof slopes are well placed and properly designed.
— A small rural medieval church with
good interior spaces in nave, aisles and chancel, no major monuments
and poor 19th century "restoration". Conversion to office
or crafts workshop uses can be achieved, possibly with clear screening
across some compartments. However, residential uses demanding
two floors or large extensions would destroy the spaces, the recognisable
historic plan and cut across full-height windows.
5. The Advisory Board for Redundant Churches
was originally established in 1969. Its purposes are:
— to simplify and streamline complex
consultations by the Commissioners with government, amenity societies
and learned bodies on Anglican churches no longer required for
worship;
— to provide in a single body a balanced
and authoritative view transparently free of pastoral and financial
considerations about the weight to be attached to historic and
architectural considerations;
— to reflect the partnership interests
of church and state by having its expert membership appointed
jointly by the Archbishops and the Prime Minister's Office. The
CCT is 70% state funded, and the Board also has a statutory duty
to advise on any proposals it may make to devest, lease, or alter
churches it holds.
6. Churches in ecclesiastical use are covered
by the ecclesiastical exemption from secular listed building and
scheduled ancient monument controls. When ecclesiastical uses
lapse, or redundancy is formally declared, the exemption lapses
and secular controls apply fully. As an independent advisor "bi-lingual"
in ecclesiastical and secular planning controls, the Board is
able to act as a mediator between principal church and state stakeholders
by providing information and advice to interested parties. This
is an important compensation for the way the ecclesiastical exemption
has on the one hand isolated the Church from the full weight of
secular planning process, and on the other deskilled many local
planning authorities with regard to a highly specialized category
of historic building and their attendant issues.
7. At a time when public interest in the
ecclesiastical heritage has never been greater, concern for the
future of Anglican parish churches is a permanent item on the
agenda. Whether or not the flow of redundancies increases as some
foretell, there will continue to be a need for transparently independent
expert advice on appropriate futures for the affected buildings.
Such advice will be crucial for the review of existing holdings
that must precede any credible bid by the Churches Conservation
Trust for increased funds to support a naturally growing work-load
of vestings. For all these reasons the Board is strongly resisting
the current proposal to abolish it in its present independent
form and replace it with a reduced function put within a church
body.
6 February 2006
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