The otherwise unremarkable case Re St Lawrence Toot Baldon [2023] ECC Oxf 10 concerning a confirmatory faculty for an unauthorized ledger stone explored the issue of “sufficient interest” in faculty petitions – an issue on which there was “surprisingly little authority”.

The Ecclesiastical Law Association summary stated:

“The petitioner’s late wife’s ashes had been interred in the grave of her mother in 2019. The petitioner had obtained the approval of the Team Vicar to the laying of a ledger stone in memory of his wife on the grave. The stone was not one which was authorised under the churchyard regulations…The Chancellor decided…to allow the stone to remain, as the petitioner had “the full support of the minister, the churchwardens, the PCC, the DAC, and the petitioner’s family, and for powerful pastoral considerations”. Continue reading →