In March 2015 the petitioners were granted a faculty by the acting chancellor for works of re-ordering of this 1967 unlisted church, which included the separation of the liturgical area from a new community and social area by the introduction of a glazed screen and servery. That faculty authorised, inter alia, the ‘relocation of the baptistery’. In April 2015 the petitioners attempted to remove the font, which was a fixed, marble-clad concrete pillar described by the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) as of no intrinsic merit. They were unable to remove the font intact and so it was demolished, removed from the church and buried in the garden of one of the petitioners. Six months later the matter was drawn to the attention of the chancellor, who directed that the faculty did not permit the removal of the font from the church and its disposal, and required the petitioners to return the font and to petition for a faculty in relation to its disposal. He gave directions for a hearing and there heard evidence that the petitioners' proposals had always expressly included the permanent removal of the font and its replacement with a more appropriate font. The archdeacon and DAC, who recommended the proposals, had, over the course of a number of visits and meetings, believed that the font was to be replaced. The chancellor accepted their evidence that the petitioners had acted in the honest belief that the faculty had permitted the disposal of the font.

The advice of the Church Buildings Council on the disposal of fonts was sought but they declined to comment further than to suggest that, pursuant to Canon F1, the font should be put beyond use after its removal from the church. The chancellor noted the decision of the Court of Arches in Re St Peter, Draycott [2009] 3 WLR 248, where it was held that the prohibition on alternative uses of the font bowl under Canon F1 ceases to apply once a font is redundant or superfluous and is no longer used for the administration of baptism. The chancellor referred to the two sacraments ordained of Christ as set out in Article XXV of the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion: baptism and the Eucharist. He noted the special status accorded to sacramental objects used in those two sacraments in section 76 of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 (and its predecessors) and held that, when determining petitions relating to fonts, altars and communion plate, the court should give particular regard to their heightened sacramental significance and symbolism. Their previous sacramental use would be a reason for particular care being taken when deciding on any conditions to be imposed in the event of disposal.

The chancellor was satisfied that there was no legal or other requirement for a redundant font to be put beyond use. The font bowl was to be retained pending an application within three years for the introduction of an appropriate replacement set of liturgical furniture. The remaining concrete and marble cladding could be disposed of in such manner as the archdeacon might authorise, including it being dumped in landfill. A confirmatory faculty was given for the introduction of a temporary font. [RA]