The Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 1994

Made: 30th June 1994

Laid before Parliament: 15th July 1994

Coming into force: 1st October 1994

The Secretary of State for National Heritage, as respects England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 60(5) and (6), 75(7) and (8) and 93(6) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990[^f00001], hereby make the following Order:

Citation, commencement and supplementary provision

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 1994 and shall come into force on 1st October 1994.

• (2) Nothing in this Order shall operate to require listed building consent or conservation area consent for works commenced, or for works in respect of which a contract has been made, before this Order comes into force.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the Act” means the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990;

• “building” means an ecclesiastical building which is for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes;

• “church building” means a building whose primary use is as a place of worship;

• “ecclesiastical exemption” means the exemption of buildings from the provisions of sections 3, 4, 7 to 9, 47, 54, 59 and 74 of the Act by virtue of sections 60(1) and 75(1)(b) of the Act;

• “the Measure” means the Care of Cathedrals Measure 1990[^f00002];

• “the Methodist Church” means the Methodist Church as defined in section 2(1) of the Methodist Church Act 1976[^f00003];

• “monument” includes a tomb, gravestone or other memorial and any kerb or setting forming part thereof.

• (2) Unless the context otherwise requires any reference in this Order to—

• (a) a numbered article or Schedule is a reference to the article of or Schedule to this Order so numbered; and

• (b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the article in which the reference appears.

Exclusion or restriction of ecclesiastical exemption

3

• (1) Ecclesiastical exemption is excluded in respect of all buildings other than those falling within article 4 or 6.

• (2) For buildings falling within article 4, ecclesiastical exemption is restricted to the extent set out in article 5.

Buildings retaining ecclesiastical exemption

4

Ecclesiastical exemption is retained for—

• (a) buildings within the faculty jurisdiction of the Church of England;

• (b) buildings subject to the Measure;

• (c) buildings of the Church in Wales vested in the Representative Body of the Church in Wales or any other representative body under section 13(2) of the Welsh Church Act 1914[^f00004];

• (d) buildings held in trust by the diocesan trustees of a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church;

• (e) buildings owned by or held in trust for or for the purposes of the Methodist Church or any connexional or local organisation of the Methodist Church;

• (f) buildings held in trust for a Church in membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain or the Baptist Union of Wales by one of the trust corporations set out in Schedule 1 (whether alone or jointly with another person or persons); and

• (g) buildings situated within one of the Provinces of the United Reformed Church set out in Schedule 2 held on the trusts set out in Part I of Schedule 2 to the United Reformed Church Act 1972[^f00005]or Part I of Schedule 2 to the United Reformed Church Act 1981[^f00006].

Extent of ecclesiastical exemption

5

• (1) Subject to paragraphs (3)

and (5), ecclesiastical exemption for buildings falling within article 4 is restricted, except in the case of buildings subject to the Measure, to—

• (a) any church building;

• (b) any object or structure within a church building;

• (c) any object or structure fixed to the exterior of a church building; and

• (d) any object or structure within the curtilage of a church building which, although not fixed to that building, forms part of the land.

• (2) In the case of buildings subject to the Measure, ecclesiastical exemption is restricted to—

• (a) any building, object or structure within the precinct of a cathedral church for the purposes of the Measure and enclosed within the red line shown on the plan relating to that cathedral church entitled “Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 1994”, signed by an Assistant Secretary in the Department of National Heritage, dated 21st June 1994 and deposited with the local planning authority;

• (b) any church building, within the precinct of a cathedral church for the purposes of the Measure, which does not fall within sub-paragraph (a) above, and any object or structure within that church building, but excluding—

• (i) any object or structure fixed to the exterior of that church building, and

• (ii) any object or structure within the curtilage of that church building which, although not fixed to that building, forms part of the land; and

• (c) subject to paragraph (4), any monument which—

• (i) does not fall within sub-paragraph (a) above,

• (ii) is not itself a listed building (apart from any status as a listed building which it may have solely by being treated as part of a cathedral church or other church building by virtue of section 1(5)(a) or (b) of the Act),

• (iii) is within the precinct of a cathedral church for the purposes of the Measure, and

• (iv) is situated in a churchyard, graveyard or other land which is or has been used for the purposes of burial.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), ecclesiastical exemption is not retained by virtue of paragraph (1) in respect of—

• (a) any object or structure fixed to the exterior of a church building; or

• (b) any object or structure within the curtilage of a church building which, although not fixed to that building, forms part of the land,

where that object or structure is itself a listed building (apart from any status as a listed building which it may have solely by being treated as part of the church building by virtue of section 1(5)(a) or (b) of the Act).

• (4) In paragraphs (2)(c) and (3), the reference to a monument or to an object or structure fixed to the exterior of a church building or within the curtilage of a church building does not include any object or structure which falls to be treated for the purposes of the Act as part of that monument, object or structure by virtue only of section 1(5)(a) or (b) of the Act.

• (5) Exemption from the provisions of sections 7 to 9, 59 and 74 of the Act is restricted in respect of buildings falling within paragraphs (c) to (g) of article 4—

• (a) to works carried out by or on behalf of a church or body, or a constituent part of a church or body, referred to in those paragraphs; or

• (b) where the buildings are on any premises forming part of a university, college, school, hospital or public or charitable institution, to works carried out by or on behalf of the governing body or the trustees of that institution.

Peculiars and other special cases

6

• (1) Ecclesiastical exemption is retained for buildings to which this article applies which do not fall withn article 4.

• (2) This article applies to—

• (a) buildings within a peculiar of the Church of England;

• (b) any building used for worship according to the rites, doctrinal standards, principles or usages of the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist denomination or the United Reformed Church on any premises forming part of—

• (i) La university, college, school, hospital or Inn of Court, or

• (ii) a public or charitable institution, other than one referred to in sub- sub-paragraph (i) above, if the premises in question do not consist solely of that building and its curtilage;

• (c) buildings owned by or held in trust for a religious community of the Church of England;

• (d) buildings owned by or held in trust for a Roman Catholic Religious Institute or Society of Apostolic Life;

• (e) buildings subject to a sharing agreement pursuant to the Sharing of Church Buildings Act 1969[^f00007]made on behalf of one or more of the Churches referred to in sub-paragraph (b) above or any Church in membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain or the Baptist Union of Wales; and

• (f) buildings used for worship according to the rites, doctrinal standards, principles or usages of the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church.

SCHEDULE 1 — Trust Corporations

• The Baptist Union Corporation Limited

• The Bristol and District Association of Baptist Churches (Incorporated)

• The Devon and Cornwall Baptist Corporation Limited

• The East Midland Baptist Association (Incorporated)

• The Lancashire and Cheshire Association of Baptist Churches (Incorporated)

• The London Baptist Property Board Limited

• The Welsh Baptist Union Corporation Limited

• The West Midland Baptist (Trust) Association (Incorporated)

• The Wilts and East Somerset Baptist Association (Incorporated)

• The Yorkshire Baptist Association (Incorporated)

SCHEDULE 2 — Provinces of the United Reformed Church

• Northern

• North Western

• Mersey

• Yorkshire

• East Midlands

• West Midlands

• Eastern

• South Western

• Wessex

• Thames North

• Southern

• Wales

Signed

Peter Brooke — Secretary of State for National Heritage — 30th June 1994

(signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales) 30th June 1994

Sir Wyn Roberts — Minister of State Welsh Office

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Section 60(1) and (2) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (the Act) provides that ecclesiastical buildings which are for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes are not subject to sections 3, 4, 7 to 9, 47, 54 and 59 of the Act. These relate to listed building control, including building preservation notices, restrictions on works of demolition, alteration or extension, compulsory acquisition of buildings in need of repair, urgent preservation works by a local authority, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England and the Secretary of State, and offences in relation to intentional damage. Section 75 of the Act provides that ecclesiastical buildings which are for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes are not subject to section 74 of the Act which relates to the control of demolition of buildings in a conservation area. These exemptions are commonly collectively referred to as ecclesiastical exemption.

This Order removes the ecclesiastical exemption in respect of all ecclesiastical buildings other than those falling within article 4 or 6. Under article 4 the exemption is accordingly retained by ecclesiastical buildings of the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Baptist Union of Wales and the United Reformed Church provided their primary use is as a place of worship, together with associated objects and structures, and subject to the qualifications and restrictions set out in that article and in article 5. Article 6 provides that additional categories of ecclesiastical buildings which do not fall within article 4 also retain the ecclesiastical exemption.

The areas within the red line on the plans, referred to in article 5(2), are all within the precinct of an English cathedral curch and have been designated by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England. The relevant plan may be inspected during normal office hours at the offices of the local planning authority for the cathedral church in question. A complete set of the plans may also be inspected at the Department of National Heritage, 24 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, 83 London Wall, London EC2M 5NA.

Article 1 (2) provides that the loss of ecclesiastical exemption shall not affect any works which have commenced, or in respect of which a contract has been made, before the Order comes into force.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1990 c. 9.

[^f00002]: 1990 No. 2.

[^f00003]: 1976 c.xxx.

[^f00004]: 1914 c. 91.

[^f00005]: 1972 c.xviii.

[^f00006]: 1981 c.xxiv.

[^f00007]: 1969 c. 38.