Advice and permissions for church and churchyard alterations.

Every diocese has a Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), established by the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991.

The DAC consists of a group of people with an interest, enthusiasm, skill or concern for different aspects of church buildings. For a list of the membership of Wakefield DAC see the latest Annual Report.

 

The main role of the DAC is to:

• Advise parishes wishing to undertake any work on the fabric or furnishings of churches or churchyards (available for download from here).
• Give advice to the Chancellor of the diocese or the Archdeacon when a Faculty (legal authorisation) is sought. The DAC may recommend proposed work, not object to, or not recommend, and/or may make certain recommendations.
• Support churchwardens and the church architects and surveyors in the care and maintenance of the buildings for which they are responsible.
• Give general guidance and support to churches on various aspects of the maintenance and improvement of churches and churchyards.

The DAC meets monthly, usually on the first Friday of the month. The deadline for items for the next Agenda is one week before the meeting.

 

What to do

In almost every case a church considering work to the church or churchyard should contact either their local Archdeacon (Halifax or Pontefract) or the Secretary of the DAC, Julia Wilding. They will be able to advise on the appropriate steps to be taken.

• Some routine work can be undertaken without Faculty permission, but with the Archdeacons consent. See the De Minimis guidance for a full list of what is permitted.
• Some temporary or experimental arrangements for a period of to 15 months can be done under the permission of an Archdeacons Certificate.
• Some proposed work will need to be considered by one or more of the DACs experts, for example bells, or heating, or sound and light. The DAC Secretary will be able to advise on who to contact.
• Often when a church is considering a major scheme, such as reordering, a good starting point is to invite the DAC to visit the church before plans get too advanced. The DAC can then be part of what is planned from the beginning, and can offer comment and advice. The DAC Secretary will help organise these visits.
• Most work (including quinquennial repair work) needs formal authorisation by Faculty from the Archdeacon or Chancellor.
• Work which affects the external appearance of a church or churchyard is likely also to need planning permission from the local planning authority.

 

Who to contact

The Secretary to the DAC is one of the diocese's joint Registrars, Julia Wilding. Click here for the Registry page. Julia can be contacted at:

Wakefield Diocesan Registry
Dixon, Coles and Gill
Bank House
Burton Street
Wakefield
WF1 2DA
Tel: 01924 263166
Fax: 01924 264244
Email: jwilding@dixon-coles-gill.com

Useful web sites

ChurchCare has been set up by the Church of England to offer advice to churchwardens and PCCs about many aspects of building maintenance, repair and finance. It is full of useful and practical information, and is highly recommended.

ChurchArt encourages artists, congregations, and those involved in the care of churches to foster and engage the arts in the life of the church. This site has been set up by the Church of England.

Heritage Gateway is a useful site to find information about England's archaeological sites and historic buildings, including churches.

Through the Roof is a Christian charitable organisation giving offering advice to churches on various disability and access issues.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has some useful guidance and tips for maintaining church buildings, including a downloadable video about maintaining gutters!

The Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme gives advice about reclaiming VAT on repairs to listed churches. This site is supported by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. See also the Memorial Grant Scheme website, which returns, in grant aid, the amount of VAT incurred on the construction, renovation and maintenance of eligible memorials.

The National Aerials Agreement website is for Church of England parishes considering registering their churches as potential sites for a mobile telecommunications installation under the national scheme.

Church Plans Online is maintained by the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. The site has 12,000 plans of churches, plus other documentation, and is fully searchable.

Funds for Historic Buildings offers a guide to funding for the repair, restoration or conversion to new use any historic building in England and Wales.

 

DAC downloads and guidance

The DAC and the Chancellor have issued guidance for parishes on various issues and topics. These can be downloaded in pdf format.

• Archaeological requirements for works on churches and churchyards (pdf 86kb)
• Aumbries (pdf 8kb)
• Carpets (pdf 36kb)
• Churchyard Regulations 1994 (pdf 75kb)
• De Minimis regulations (pdf 21kb)
• Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2000 (Appendix A) - Archdeacon's Faculty (pdf 12kb)
• Fine Art (pdf 48kb)
• Lighting (pdf 31kb)
• Making changes to a listed church (pdf 158kb)
• Organ and blower maintenance (pdf 55kb)
• Re-ordering for worship ( pdf 13kb)
• Responsible care of churchyards (pdf 37kb)
• Sound systems (pdf 18kb)
• Statements of significance and need (pdf 16kb)
• Trees (pdf 19kb)
• Window protection (pdf 344kb)

 

Other useful information

Flooding and Historic Buildings - practical advice about anticipating and dealings with flooding disasters - (external link to English Heritage, pdf 500kb).

Planning 'Jargon Buster' - a glossary of terms used by planners and local authorities, produced by South West Planning Aid (external link, pdf 770kb)