The church at All Saints, Rangemore, is a Grade II* listed building, constructed in stone in the 19th century; the churchyard wall, gate piers and gates are also Grade II listed. The churchyard has a range of memorials, including some to prominent members of the Bass family, notable for their brewing business and philanthropy [ref 1.]. Quite recently, a memorial of the Bass family was of indirect assistance in relation to memorial to Dave Myers, one of the “Hairy Bikers”.

On 18 August 2025, the Diocesan Chancellor, Dr Anthony Verduyn, granted a faculty for a memorial outside the parameters of the Churchyard Regulations for the Diocese of Lichfield (2013), by permitting a monument to the late Mr David Myers in a form essentially (although not completely) as sought by his widow, Mrs Liliana Myers.

As the requirements of the family for the memorial were outside the specifications laid down by the Churchyard Regulations of the Diocese [ref. 2], the approval of the Diocesan Chancellor, Dr Anthony Verduyn was required. The judgment Re All Saints Rangemore [2025] ECC Lic 3 commences:

“[2]. Mr David Myers was a larger-than-life figure in more ways than one: known as ‘Dave Myers’ he was one half of the ‘Hairy Bikers’. He had thus appeared on British television since 2014, bringing ‘great verve, energy, passion and professionalism’ to educating the public on ‘food, cooking and motoring’, to quote his widow…his creative life extended to 38 television series and almost as many books.

[…]

He was buried at All Saints church, Rangemore, on 19th March 2024. His passing was marked in June that year by a “convoy” of motorcyclists riding from London to Barrow in Furness, where he was born, and numbering up to 20,000 riders. It raised over £100,000 for charity and the event was repeated this June (2025)”.

The petitioner sought a memorial comprising two parts: a headstone and “full kerb”, the latter being a flat grave covering (albeit raised somewhat off the ground). The headstone would be wider than the regulations permit (1498.6mm compared to a maximum of 915mm) and in mid-grey and lavender blue polished granite (the use of polished granite also being outside the regulations). The flat monument would be in the same material, which is also outside the terms of the regulations [4].

The proposal set out in the petition had the unqualified support of the incumbent, the Rev. Terry Williams, the parish ministry team, and the Parochial Church Council. It had been subject to public notice, and no objections were raised [5]. In common with the view of others, the Diocesan Advisory Committee (“DAC”) accepted that Mr Myers warranted a memorial reflecting his public standing and outside the strict constraints of the Churchyard Regulations. It considered that the features and words proposed were considered unobjectionable, save in two respects:

i) the material of the memorial proposed for introduction would not be sufficiently in keeping with the character of the churchyard or the majority of the existing memorials. It was suggested that a local Staffordshire stone, such as Hollington, would be more suitable for this context and location;

ii) the raised horizontal element of the proposed memorial would be better situated if designed flush with the ground. It was intended that this would also facilitate the upkeep of the churchyard, as referred to in the Regulations [6].

Aware of these concerns, the Petitioner and Ms Amy Lamb of Art Stone Memorials provided detailed submissions [7].

The Chancellor considered the two aspects [8] to [12], and [13] to [15]. On the former, the petitioner offered to compromise somewhat from the terms of the petition, by expressing a willingness (if necessary) to have granite which is not polished [9]. The Chancellor noted that there is a significant variety of stone already in use in the churchyard at Rangemore, including Hollington stone and granite in various shades, polished and unpolished [11]. Taking account of the prominence of Mr Myers in public life and the more substantial stone memorials for other public figures in the churchyard, he considered that there was just sufficient material provided in favour of the petition, taken as a whole, to permit a granite memorial in this case. However, to add polish to this substantial memorial would be to make it too substantial a feature within the churchyard as a whole. The concession of the Petitioner on this point was appropriately made and accepted [12].

The second issue was whether the flat part of the memorial should be flush with the ground, as DAC contends, or raised by about 19cm. The DAC pointed to the Churchyard Regulations where ease of maintenance and grass cutting justified the requirement for horizontal memorials to be level with the ground [13].

The Petitioner and Ms Lamb identified memorials with kerbs flush to the ground that can present concealed trip hazards, including immediately behind Mr Myers’ grave. Further, the church’s incumbent and groundkeeper each stated that the ground is not merely settling after an interment, but ground movement is present and influencing monuments. The need for stability facilitation by a raised memorial reflects the safety principles of BS 8415:2018, which states that “memorials shall be installed to remain stable and secure for the long term … “, as well as the need to minimise risk of injury in public spaces [14].

The Chancellor was satisfied that in this case, as a horizontal feature to be part of this monument is uncontroversial, that for it to be raised is permissible. He also noted that the other, raised monuments to the Bass family would support a comparable feature in this case, concluding:

“Once again, this is a holistic approach, whereby the aggregation of supporting matters in this case is decisive, when individually and in isolation that may not be the case [15].

Consequently, I will grant the faculty as sought, save that the granite will not be permitted to be polished. I do not doubt that the monument will be much visited and sufficiently conspicuous to be found, without overwhelming other memorials or the listed features of the church and churchyard [16]”.

References 

[1] Lawyers will be aware that the Bass brewery trademark – the well-known red triangle logo – was the first trademark registered under the UK Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875.

[2]. Churchyard Regulations deal with the physical character of memorial stone and inscription which an incumbent may permit without a seeking a specific faculty from the consistory court.