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Re St Mary, Horsell

Guildford Consistory Court: Jordan Ch, December 2011 Bell-ringing – historic masonry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2012

Ruth Arlow
Affiliation:
Barrister, Deputy Chancellor of the Dioceses of Chichester and Norwich
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Abstract

Type
Case Notes
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2012

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings objected to the petitioners' proposal to break through a mediaeval wall to improve access to the ringing chamber, which was currently reached by a ladder and trapdoor. The existing poor access was discouraging potential users of the ringing chamber. In granting the faculty, the chancellor balanced the need to preserve historic masonry and the need to improve access. He held that the balance was in favour of improved access, noting that bell-ringing was an historic tradition within the community that was worth preserving and cultivating in the same way that historic buildings should be preserved. [RA]