Church of England Parochial Fees: from March 2023

Following a decision by the General Synod of the Church of England on 8 February, the Parochial Fees (Amendment) Order 2023 SI 164 was laid before Parliament on 28 February and came into force on 1 March 2023. The Church’s revised Tables of Parochial Fees are now included on the church’s webpage Life events parochial fees and guidance in the form of an A3 table, an A4 table, and a Summary which incorporates the A4 tabular material, including the Notes.

For parish churches, the allocation of these fees between the Diocesan Board of Finance (DBF) and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) is given in the A3 and A4 tables; where the service is taken by retired clergy, guidance on the apportionment of the DBF fees is given by dioceses, such as that in Oxford. Links to further information are included at the end of this post, and the fees up to 28 February 2023 are summarized in the earlier post Church of England Parochial Fees, January and February 2023.

The fees payable to the Church are listed summarized below:

As in the earlier post, the references to “Notes” use that in the A3 table*.


BAPTISMS

There is no fee for a service of baptism.


MARRIAGES

The following costs are set by the Church of England nationally (i.e. in England) and are the same for every church. The basic legal fees include the cost of the vicar, the church, calling the banns, a banns certificate, the marriage certificate, lighting and all administration.

  • Publication of banns: £34
  • Certificate of banns, if required: £17
  • Marriage service (See Note 5): £505

Not covered are extras such as the costs of choir, organist, bellringers, verger &c., for which new advice was issued in February 2019. The background to these extras is summarized here, and the Church of England’s The Cost of Church Weddings provides examples of costs for where a couple marry away from where they live.§

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 (‘2022 Act’) came into effect on Monday 27 February 2023; no 16- or 17-year-old will be able to may now marry or enter a civil partnership in England and Wales under any circumstances, including with parental or judicial consent.


SEARCHES IN CHURCH REGISTERS

  • Searching registers of marriages for period before 1 July 1837 (See Note 4) (for up to one hour), £34.
    • for each subsequent hour or part of an hour, £34.
  • Searching registers of baptism or burials (See Note 4)(including the provision of one copy of any entry therein) for up to one hour, £34.
    • for each subsequent hour or part of an hour, £34.
  • Each additional copy of an entry in a register of baptism or burials, £17.
  • Inspection of instrument of apportionment or agreement for exchange of land for tithes deposited under the Tithe Act 1836, £0
  • Furnishing copies of above (for every 72 words), £17.

FUNERALS

Funerals and burials of Person aged 18 years or more (see Note 3(i))

A Church of England funeral is not necessarily in a church. The minister can lead the whole funeral service in a different place, or a church service can be incorporated into part of the day wherever the funeral takes place. Further information is here. and the definitions relating to burial are in Note 2. The fees are:

A. Service in Church

  • Funeral service in church, whether taking place before or after burial or cremation (See Note 3(i)), £217.
  • Burial of body in churchyard immediately preceding or following on from service in church, £348.
  • Burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains in churchyard immediately preceding or following on from service in church, £151.
  • Burial of body, or burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains, in cemetery immediately preceding or following on from service in church, £32.
  • Cremation immediately preceding or following on from service in church, £32.
  • Burial of body in churchyard on separate occasion, (See Note 3(ii)), £379.
  • Burial of cremated remains in churchyard or other lawful disposal of cremated remains on separate occasion (See Note 3(ii)), £182.
  • Burial of body, or burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains, in cemetery on separate occasion (See Note 3(ii)), £78.

B. No service in Church

  • Funeral service (including burial of body) at graveside in churchyard, £450.
  • Funeral service (including burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains) at graveside in churchyard, £253.
  • Funeral service at crematorium, or funeral service (including burial of body or burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains) in cemetery, £217.
  • Funeral service in premises belonging to funeral director, whether taking place before or after burial or cremation, £217.
  • Cremation immediately preceding or following on from funeral service in premises belong to funeral director, £32.
  • Burial of body in churchyard, not following service at graveside (committal only), £379.
  • Burial of cremated remains in churchyard or other lawful disposal of cremated remains (committal only), £182.
  • Burial of body, or burial or other lawful disposal of cremated remains, in cemetery (committal only), £32.

C. Certificate issued at time of burial (See Note 3(iii)), £17.


MONUMENTS IN CHURCHYARDS

Permitted in accordance with rules, regulations or directions made by the Chancellor of the diocese, including those relating to a particular churchyard or part of a churchyard (but excluding a monument authorized by a particular faculty, the fee for which is set by the Chancellor)

  • Small cross of wood, £52.
  • Small vase not exceeding 305mm x 203mm x 203mm (12” x 8” x 8”) or tablet, plaque or other marker commemorating a person whose remains have been cremated, £84.
  • Any other monument, £158.

(the above fees include the approval of the original inscription by the incumbent).

  • Additional inscription on existing monument, £33.

EXTRAS

The fees shown in the table do not include charges for heating, the services of a verger, music (e.g. organist, choir), bells, and flowers, which are fixed by the Parochial Church Council. In the case of a marriage service or a funeral service in church, any costs and expenses incurred in respect of routine administration (including arranging dates and times and the making of entries in registers), making the church available and lighting it are included in the fee prescribed as payable to the Parochial Church Council.


NOTES FROM TABLES OF FEES*

Statutory fees are only prescribed for matters in respect of which parishioners have a legal right. Not all services come into this category, for example funerals where there is a period of more than 48 hours between the funeral service and the cremation and between the cremation and the disposal of ashes.

This also applies to special services such as memorial services and services of blessing and dedication following a civil marriage. The Archbishops’ Council recommends that, where a memorial service is on a similar scale to a funeral service, or a service of blessing and dedication following a civil marriage or a renewal of marriage vows is on a scale equivalent to a wedding service, the PCC fee should be based on the statutory fee for the service, with the PCC receiving the equivalent of the combined DBF and PCC fee.

Note 1: Certificates of baptism

The fee for a certificate issued at the time of baptism is for a certified copy of the entry in the register book of baptisms giving the particulars required in Form No 1 in Schedule 1 to the Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978. The fees payable for a certified copy of the full entry issued at any other time are the fees prescribed for searching registers of baptisms and burials and, if applicable, for each additional copy of an entry in such a register.

Note 2: Definitions etc.

  • ‘Burial’ includes deposit in a vault or brick grave and the interment or deposit of cremated remains.
  • ‘Churchyard’ includes the curtilage of a church and a burial ground of a church whether or not immediately adjoining such church. (NOTE: This includes any area used for the interment of cremated remains within such a curtilage or burial ground, whether consecrated or not.)
  • ‘Cemetery’ means any burial ground other than a churchyard.
  • ‘Monument’ includes headstone, cross, kerb, border, vase, chain, railing, tablet, plaque, marker, flatstone, tombstone or monument or tomb of any other kind.
  • ‘immediately preceding or following on from service in church’ includes the day before and the day after the service in church. See note at the top right of the table.
  • Where “ – “ appears in the table no fee is payable to the body indicated.

Note 3(i) No fee is payable in respect of a burial of a still-born infant, or for the funeral or burial of a person dying within eighteen years after birth.

Note 3(ii) The fee for a burial in a churchyard or cemetery on a separate occasion applies when burial does not take place on the same day as, or on the day before or the day after, a service in church.

Note 3(iii) The certificate issued at the time of burial is a certified copy of the entry in the register book of burials kept under the Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978.

Note 4: Searches in church registers

The search fee relates to a particular search where the approximate date of the baptism, marriage or burial is known. The fee for a more general search of a church register is negotiable.

Note 5: Costs and expenses

In the case of a marriage service or a funeral service in church, any costs and expenses incurred in respect of routine administration (including arranging dates and times and the making of entries in registers), making the church available and lighting it are included in the fee prescribed as payable to the Parochial Church Council.


Further information


* The Notes to the A3, the A4 and the Summary versions of the Table of Fees all use different systems of numbering although, apart from the Summary, the wording is identical. The Notes in this post provide links to the relevant explanation, and as in our previous post, use the numbering adopted in the A3 Summary. 

§ Further information is available at The Cost of Church Weddings and the Church Support Hub.

Updated: 3 April 2023 at 10:22.

Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "Church of England Parochial Fees: from March 2023" in Law & Religion UK, 1 March 2023, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2023/03/01/church-of-england-parochial-fees-from-march-2023/

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