NOTES ACCOMPANYING PETITION FOR FACULTY FOR MEMORIAL OUTSIDE
CHURCHYARD MEMORIAL RULES 2013
If it is proposed to place a memorial on a grave in a form which is not permitted by the Churchyard Memorial Rules 2013, formal Faculty permission is required. Please download the form of Petition for Faculty for a memorial.
The Petition should be completed and returned to the Registry with the fees payable on lodging the Petition. The Applicants should normally be either the two executors or administrators. If for some reason the Petition is to be lodged by some person who is not an executor or administrator an explanation must be given.
The Minister in charge and the PCC will need to approve the application and you should pass the Petition to the Minister asking for the third page to be considered, completed, dated and signed. The Minister is the priest responsible for the churchyard: he or she may be known as the Vicar or Rector or Priest in Charge. If there is a vacancy in the Parish the application should be given to the Rural Dean
The Applicants must describe the proposed memorial on page 2, including the proposed dimensions, shape and material, and setting out the full inscription. Attaching a drawing to the Petition is helpful, as are photographs showing other memorials and the general appearance of the churchyard in the area where the proposed memorial is to be placed.
After it has been lodged in the Registry, the Petition and any accompanying documents will be considered by the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches at its next meeting, after which it will be sent to the Chancellor of the Consistory Court of the Diocese; it is the Chancellor who decides whether a faculty should be granted.
The proposed memorial must not be erected on the grave or placed in the churchyard until a Faculty has been granted. The Faculty is the legal authority for the placing of the memorial on the grave. An order should not be placed with a memorial mason until a Faculty has been issued. If a memorial is placed in the churchyard without faculty permission, application may be made for its removal and you may be required to pay the costs of that application.
There are fees payable on lodging the Petition. Please send cheques as follows with the Petition:-
£291.40 made payable to “York Diocesan Registry”, (faculty fee)
£79.00 made payable to the “York Diocesan Board of Finance Limited”, (the Minister’s parochial fee which belongs to the DBF)
£158.00 made payable to the “...... ………...... PCC“, (the parochial fee for the PCC).
Please note that fees are revised periodically. If there is any delay in lodging the petition, please contact the Registry for details of up to date fees. Current fees need to be tendered with the Petitions when they are lodged in the Registry. All three cheques need to be attached to the Petition and sent to the Registry; failure to do so causes delay in the processing of the Petition and additional work in the Registry.
In the event of a Faculty not being granted the faculty fees will not be returned; however the parochial fees payable to the Parochial Church Council and the DBF will be returned.
Finally if you require assistance completing the Petition then you may either email the Faculty Secretary or telephone 01904 623487