In medieval times it became Church law that anyone who owned land which had in former times belonged to the parish Church (called 'Rectorial' land) should henceforth be responsible for repair of the church chancel. In return they were entitled to collect a 10% tithe tax from all parishioners. Most rectorial land was of course still owned by the church itself anyway and in that case the church took the tithes. As the centuries passed much rectorial land was broken up into smaller and smaller plots as hamlets and villages and towns expanded and the tax collecting aspect of the deal was abolished by parliament.
The chancel repair quid pro quo obligation was never repealed however and now the Church of England has resuscitated its claims and has had a test case upheld in the High court with the result that a farm in Warwickshire has been made virtually worthless and unsellable and the owners financially ruined.
Any property owner whose house, patio, garden or garage is built on land which centuries ago belonged to a parish church is likely to find themselves liable for the unrestricted costs of church repairs no matter how miniscule a piece of land it might be.
This sort of behaviour which is so obviously massively unfair turns people away from the Church and imo it's high time that all Church law was declared invalid in British courts.
3 comments:
Wow, this is interesting, we have just bought a house that has this obligation, but have taken out an insurance to cover it. Hubby said not to worry about it, but I had heard about the farm being rendered unsellable. Thank you for the info..... Gem xx
sticks tongue out in mock rage - you mean english law - there is no such thing as british law ours is based on a completely differernt premise altogether and noce fo this applies outside England. So there
Church of England Bishops still help to make legislation that applies in Scotland Stuart - but anyway, aren't you ashamed of your fellow religious? And put that tongue away before the wind changes else you'll be snatched up to do duty as a gargoyle.
Post a Comment