This petition concerned a 1630s treble bell in a Grade I listed mediaeval village church. A previous faculty had authorised remedial works to a ring of three bells. It was subsequently discovered that the treble bell was irreparably cracked and unfit for use; however, a replacement 1760s bell had been sourced. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) decided it wished to put the newer bell to use in the tower and to display the 1630s bell at ground level in the church.

The Diocesan Bells Advisor declined to support the petition, owing to concerns that the bell might be stolen. He was not persuaded that the security measures proposed by the churchwarden would be sufficient, and instead elected to support only the display of the bell on an upper floor in the church's bell tower. The ground-floor proposal otherwise had the approval of the PCC, the diocese's senior church buildings officer and the church's insurers.

The chancellor considered that, notwithstanding the genuine concerns of the bells advisor, the bell should be placed on display for the congregation and visitors to appreciate now its original function had become exhausted. Accordingly, and to give the petitioners some flexibility, he granted a faculty for its display on an upper floor or (at the choosing of the PCC from time to time) properly secured at the foot of the bell tower.

In doing so he was guided by the importance of preserving heritage in churches without undue regard to individual feelings or an artefact's ‘practical use’, expressed in such cases as re St Lawrence, Wootton [2015] Fam 27. The chancellor also carefully examined re St Helen's, Brant Broughton [1974] Fam 16, upholding a decision to require the retention of a valuable painting despite the fact that it was vulnerable to theft.

The judgment was published in anonymised form to avoid the identification by future potential thieves of the church in which the bell is situated. [Jack Stuart]