TWO women have been granted permission, supported by the PCC of St James the Great, Radley, in Oxfordshire, to order grave spaces within the churchyard, despite an acknowledged shortage of space.
Many parishes are facing such a shortage — a situation exacerbated when parishioners apply to order a grave space near where their members of the family have been buried (News, 26 July). A school to order an area is normally valid for 25 years from the date of the grant.
The Rector and Churchwardens of St James the Great had certified that the common variety of burials within the parish was six per yr, and it was estimated that the remaining space within the churchyard can be sufficient for the needs of the parish for less than one other three years.
At a special online meeting in January, the PCC passed a unanimous resolution supporting three petitions for the reservation of burial spaces within the churchyard. Two of those were the petitions of Priscilla Bowers, aged 72, and Angela May Antoinette Parke, aged 83.
In August, the Consistory Court of the diocese of Oxford granted the petition of Mrs Bowers for the reservation of a grave space for the same old period of 25 years. She had been resident within the parish for greater than 50 years, and had wished to be laid to rest where her late husband had been buried the previous yr.
When granting the petition of Mrs Bowers, the Diocesan Chancellor, the Worshipful David Hodge KC, emphasised that his decision shouldn’t be considered making a precedent, or affording any guide as to the consequence of either of the opposite two petitions in relation to the churchyard, particularly in the sunshine of the PCC’s recently formulated policy of not supporting any further reservations of grave spaces.
The circumstances of Mrs Bowers’s application were “exceptional”, the Chancellor said.
Mrs Parke had also been a resident within the parish and on the electoral roll for greater than 25 years. She and her late husband were regular worshippers at St James’s. Her request to order a grave space next to her late husband’s grave, nevertheless, was delayed by the parish for various reasons, including the illness and death of the church administrator, and the appointment of a recent administrator. Paperwork was delayed.
The Chancellor said that, owing to the anxiety that the school application was causing Mrs Parke, her age, and her fragile mental health, it will not be appropriate to require the registry to direct any further enquiries to her.
The Chancellor was satisfied, he said, “that it was appropriate for the court to treat her faculty application as being on all fours with Mrs Bowers’ application”. Since Mrs Parke was ten years older, her life expectancy was less.
The Chancellor was “satisfied that fairness and a consistency” dictated that the 2 applications needs to be determined in the identical way. Mrs Parke was granted a school for 25 years, subject to certain conditions, including a condition that the PCC formally pass a resolution to not support any further grave-space reservations.
