Caring for church buildings
An army of volunteers looks after our parish church buildings. It can be a daunting business but help is available.
The Church in Wales is to appoint a Church Heritage Officer
A grant of £113,000 has been awarded to The Church in Wales for “Taking Forward our Church Heritage”, a project with the Church in Wales and Cadw to improve and support the long-term management of historic places of worship across Wales.
It will help fund a dedicated church heritage officer to manage a three-year programme of training for volunteers to learn new skills, provide guidance and develop knowledge of how to conserve and maintain historic buildings.
The new officer will be based at 39 Cathedral Road in Cardiff
Useful websites
Church Care: www.churchcare.co.uk
Property guidance from the Church in Wales: www.churchinwales.org.uk/resources/property
Cadw Maintenance Matters: www.maintenancematterswales.org
Churches Tourism Network Wales: www.ctnw.co.uk
Grantnet link from diocesan website: www.monmouthdiocese.org.uk/admin/financial
Looking after churches - Who’s who
The Inspecting Architect is appointed by the Churches and Pastoral Committee in consulation with the parish. An inspection is carried out every five years and paid for by the diocese. This is an opportunity for the parish to ask questions about their building and the work they need to plan for. (The parish is then responsible for contracts and paying for actual work to the building.)
The Diocesan Churches and Pastoral Committee is responsible for considering the pastoral need for church buildings and for awarding grants for the repair of churches and boundary walls. The committee’s secretary is
Mrs Sharon Smith, Diocesan House, 64 Caerau Road, Newport NP20 4HJ Tel: 01633 267490 sharonsmith@churchinwales.org.uk
The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) is responsible for advising the Chancellor and parishes on matters relating to the fabric and fittings of church buildings. Members are drawn from a range of disciplines including architecture, conservation, structural engineering, history, fine arts and liturgy. All have a wealth of professional experience and give their time voluntarily to the diocese. Both Archdeacons are members of the committee and give valuable pastoral insight.
The DAC secretary is Janet Bone, Diocesan House, 64 Caerau Road, Newport NP20 4HJ 01633 267490 DAC.monmouth@churchinwales.org.uk
The Chancellor is the one who decides whether or not a faculty (see right) is issued. The Registrar advises parishes on legal aspects of faculty petitions and checks that the paperwork is in order.
Local Authority
Some proposals will also need planning permission from the local authority.
Amenity bodies
‘Ecclesiastical Exemption’ from the secular listed building consent process allows the Church in Wales to administer listed building consent by way of the faculty system. The DAC secretary will notify amenity bodies such as Cadw, Victorian Society, Georgian Group of petitions relating to listed churches, and they have the right to comment.
Facts on Faculties
Before doing any work to your church building, you should check whether you need to get a faculty - the church equivalent of planning permission.
Even though the work has been recommended in the Quinquennial Inspection report or it is replacing like with like, a faculty is almost certainly required by the Church in Wales rules.
The faculty process is in 2 stages:
Firstly an initial consultation with the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) to discuss your needs and plans.
At this stage the DAC may have questions or suggestions for you to consider to help you identify what will give you the best value for money in the long term, and what is in the best interests of the building as well as the people. This discussion may be short and straightforward or, in the case of more complex projects, may take several months.
The second stage is the formal application to the Registrar. This application will be looked at by different people and so needs to be supported by a full description of what you are proposing to do and why.
The DAC’s role is to consult any public bodies such as Cadw which might have an interest in the proposals, and to advise the Chancellor whether or not to grant a faculty.