THE CLOSE,
WINCHESTER,
_1897_.
INDEX.
Acts quoted:-- PAGE
7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, 66
sec. 3
58 Geo. III, cap. 69 67
59 Geo. III, cap. 85, sec. 1 69
14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23 71
18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 78
18
15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10 80
24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2 82
43 Geo. III, cap. 108 84
36 and 37 Vict., cap. 50 84
4 and 5 Vict., cap. 38; 7 and 8 85
Vict., cap. 37
Aggrieved Parishioners, how to 58
deal with
Cemetery, how to be provided 32
Churchwarden:--
Origin of Office 1
Who qualified to act 3
Not to act except in concert with 9
his colleague
Declaration to be made 10
Legality of Election, how 12
ascertained
Vacancy, how filled 13
Canonical Duties 20
Duty in connection with New 23
Incumbent
Duty in connection with Fabric, 21, etc.
Churchyard, Church Goods,
Insurance, Church Seats, Faculty
Pews, Sequestration, Parish
Documents
Churchyard, enlargement of 31
,, Closed, to be kept in order by 30
Churchwardens at expense of
Parish Council
Corporation. Churchwardens not a 94
corporation except under special
circumstances
Council, Parish--Powers of Vestry 13, etc.
transferred to with certain
exceptions
Custody of Keys of Church 53
,, Church Bells 54
,, Tithe Map 18
District Churches. Banns not to 39, etc.
be asked or Marriages to be
Solemnised in the Mother Church
Ratepayers residing in District 41
have a vote in Vestry of the
Mother Church
Music of Church, management of 53
Offertories, power over 54
distribution of
Sidesmen, why so called 7
,, How elected 6
Trust deeds. How land and 49
buildings for mission and other
purposes should be conveyed
Vestry, Notice of, how to be 7
signed
,, Incumbent Chairman of 8
,, How Votes taken 10
,, Select--abolished 10
Notices of First Edition 87
The Duties of Churchwardens.
I am so constantly asked in the course of my inspection of the Churches
in the Archdeaconry of Winchester what are the duties and
responsibilities of Churchwardens, that I have thought it might be useful
to publish the following remarks, which were in substance delivered in my
charge to the Clergy and Churchwardens of the Archdeaconry of Winchester
in the Spring of 1889. Many requests were then made to me that I would
publish my charge as a manual for Churchwardens, and it is in consequence
of those requests that this publication has been put forth.
Let me first refer to the origin of the office. The name appears in
connection with the ecclesiastical history of the fourth century. St.
Augustine refers to certain officers in the Church called _seniores
Ecclesiastici_. These officers were not ordained persons, but yet had
some concern in the care of the Church. They were entrusted with the
treasure and management of the outward affairs of the Church. These
persons may be looked upon as the ecclesiastical ancestors of our present
race of Churchwardens. {2} In Lyndwood's _Provinciale_ there are
allusions in some of the Provincial Constitutions of the fourteenth and
fifteenth Centuries which seem to point to officers in connection with
the Church corresponding to our present Churchwardens. It is not,
however, until after the Reformation that we find their duties distinctly
defined in successive Canons, as in 1571 (Cardwell's _Synodalia_, I,
122), in 1597 (Cardwell's _Synodalia_, I, 160), and in our own Canons of
1603.
It is not desirable on the present occasion to trace the variations in
the duties of Churchwardens through successive centuries. Each age has,
of course, its own special features, and may require different treatment
to its predecessor, but there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that
ever since the Reformation Churchwardens have been recognised as officers
of the Church, with their position and duties distinctly defined both by
canon and statute law. Before particularising their duties I must point
out what is the law as to their election.
Who, then are qualified to be Churchwardens?
Aliens, Roman Catholics, Jews, children under ten years of age, and
persons who have been convicted of felony are absolutely disqualified.
The following cannot be compelled to serve the office if they personally
object to do so:
Peers, Sheriffs, Clergymen, Members of the House of Commons, Magistrates,
Barristers and Solicitors, Physicians and Surgeons, Dissenting Ministers,
Officers in the Navy or Army on full pay, men in the Militia or Army
Reserve, Registrars of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Officials of the
Customs, Excise, or Post Office, and those already acting as
Churchwardens elsewhere.
With these exceptions the law of the land is that, if a householder
dwelling in the parish be legally elected to the office, he must serve as
Churchwarden. In old parishes dissenters, if elected, may appoint a
deputy to be approved of by the Vestry. {4} But in parishes formed under
the Acts 1 and 2, Will. IV, c. 38, sec. 16; 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37, sec.
17; or 19 and 20 Vict., c. 104, which re-enacts 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37,
sec. 17, with reference to this point, it is expressly en-acted that
Churchwardens must be Churchmen. Churchwardens ought to be elected in
new parishes twenty-one days after the consecration of the Church
thereof.
Females, although there has been no legal decision authorising their
appointment, are occasionally, if otherwise eligible, appointed to serve
the office, but it is not likely that the Courts, if called upon, would
be so ungallant as to compel a female householder, if elected, to serve
against her will.
In my own Archdeaconry there are several ladies who have been elected
Churchwardens, and they do their duty right well.
A Churchwarden must be resident in the parish for which he is elected to
serve. The contrary has been held to be the law for some years past, but
a decision of the Court of Queen's Bench, reported in the _Times_ of Nov.
20th, 1889, decides absolutely that both in new and old parishes none but
residents are qualified to serve as Churchwardens. {5}
With reference to this point, the following memorandum has been issued
for use in the diocese of Rochester by Chancellor Dibden:--
It is desirable, wherever practicable, to be careful that the persons
chosen "live" in the parish. It sometimes happens, however, that it
is difficult to find suitable persons inside, and the parish wish to
appoint an outsider. This should never be done if objection is
raised even by a single parishioner, because the appointment is
technically faulty, and could be set aside on _mandamus_ on the
application of even one individual. If, however, the parish vestry
are unanimous, and the appointment is desirable in other respects, no
harm will ensue from the fact that the chosen churchwarden is
technically ineligible. Unless and until his position is challenged,
as by a _mandamus_, he will have the same powers and rights as any
other Churchwarden. For the election of a disqualified person as
Churchwarden is not absolutely ineffective, but the person so
elected, when once admitted, can do all lawful acts belonging to the
office until he has been displaced.
The 90th canon of 1603 (which is the date of the setting forth of the
existing code of canons) directs that "the choice of . . . Churchwardens,
or Questmen, Sidesmen, or Assistants, shall be yearly made in Easter
week." An election at any other time is valid in law. {6}
It is supposed that the Churchwardens were called Questmen or Searchers
from the fact that they were empowered and instructed to search for cases
of heresy, or open sin, in their several parishes, and report them to
their Ecclesiastical Superiors.
Two derivations are given of the title of Sidesmen. Some suppose that
they are so called because they are elected as assistants to the
Churchwardens to stand by their side; other suppose the word to be an
abbreviation of Synodsmen, because in ancient times the Bishops summoned
certain persons of credit from the various parishes in order to testify
as to the morals of the clergy and people. These witnesses were called
Testes Synodales, and hence some suppose the title of Sidesmen, or
Synodsmen, to have taken its origin. Of late years in populous towns
Sidesmen have often been elected, and are found to be of great help in
assisting the Churchwardens in the execution of their duties.
The Vestry at which the Churchwardens and Sidesmen (if any) are to be
elected must be duly summoned. The notice summoning the Vestry must be
signed either by the Incumbent, the Curate, one Churchwarden, or one
Overseer of the poor. {7}
It is obviously advisable that the signatures of the Incumbent and of
both Churchwardens should be attached to the notice of the Easter Vestry.
This notice specifying the particular business to be transacted must be
affixed on a Sunday, three clear days before the holding of the meetings,
at or near the principal door of all the Churches and Chapels in the
parish. {8a} The Incumbent of the parish is by law the ex-officio
Chairman of the Vestry. {8b} In his absence the ratepayers present must
elect a Chairman for the occasion. The Curate does not necessarily take
his place as Chairman, unless elected to do so by the Vestry. The usual
custom in parishes is for the Incumbent to nominate one Churchwarden and
the parishioners the other. Sometimes the parishioners elect both. The
canon {8c} indeed seems to point out the election of both Churchwardens
by the joint consent of the Minister and the parishioners as the normal
mode of action, and the nomination by the Incumbent of one and of the
parishioners of another as only to be resorted to when they cannot arrive
at a common agreement. But custom goes for a long way in this matter,
and the usual course is certainly for the Incumbent to nominate one and
the parishioners the other. In the absence of the Incumbent the Curate
has the same right to nominate one Churchwarden as the Incumbent if
present would have. {9a}
In whatever manner the election may be carried out, the two Churchwardens
subsequently stand on an absolute equality. The Incumbent's Churchwarden
is not elected to look after the Incumbent's interests only, nor the
parishioners' Churchwarden to look after the parishioners' interests
only. The interests of both must be equally dear to the one and to the
other. Nor can they act except jointly. The Vestry even is powerless to
clothe one Churchwarden with authority to act against the will of his
colleague in office. {9b} Any election by the parishioners must take
place in the usual manner. Ratepayers present, whether paying directly
or indirectly (32 and 33 Vic., c. 41, section 19), have a right to vote,
and if a poll is demanded it cannot be refused by the Chairman. The
votes must be taken in accordance with the provisions of the Vestry Acts,
58 Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 2, 3, 4, and 59 Geo. III, cap. 85. If the
votes are equal the Chairman has by right a casting vote, in addition to
whatever number of votes he may have as an individual ratepayer. By 58
Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 3, it is ordered that minutes of the proceedings
shall be written out before the close of the Vestry, and after having
been read be signed by the Chairman and any of the members present who
may like to do so. {10a}
In some new parishes there are select Vestries, but by the 14 and 15
Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23, in parishes formed under any Church Building
Acts before 1851 they are abolished, and it was enacted that after that
date no select Vestry should be formed. {10b}
The Churchwardens thus duly appointed must make the following declaration
before the "ordinary, or other person" qualified to receive it:--
"We do solemnly and sincerely declare that we will faithfully and
diligently perform the duties of the Office of Churchwardens, to the
best of our skill and understanding, and that we will present such
persons and things as to our knowledge are presentable by the
Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm."
This declaration ought to be made at the visitation of the Bishop,
Chancellor, or Archdeacon next ensuing upon the election. Until this
declaration is made the Churchwarden is not legally qualified to act, and
could not enforce his authority as Churchwarden if objected to. In case
of the death of the Incumbent the parish would have no legal
representative to act as the custodian of the temporalities of the Church
in that particular parish. The fee payable by law at visitations is
eighteen shillings (30 and 31 Vict., cap. 135). {11}
If there is a dispute as to whether a Churchwarden is legally elected or
not, it is sometimes supposed that it is the Archdeacon's business at his
visitation to decide the question. Of course Archdeacons are at all
times ready, willing, and anxious to advise any persons who apply to them
for advice to the best of their power. But it is no part of their duty,
nor are they by law authorised to decide a disputed return. Their duty
is simply that of returning officers to declare the election as certified
to them by the Vestry. A copy of the minutes of the Vestry, in case of a
dispute, should be laid before them, and the aggrieved party can, if he
wishes to do so, apply for a mandamus commanding the Rector and
Churchwardens to convene a Vestry to make a fresh election. It is for
the court to grant or to refuse the application. I hope I may not be
understood as recommending this course. I am merely stating what the law
is. {12} But all these matters should, if possible, be settled out of
court. Law-suits are apt to leave an unpleasant taste behind. If such a
case should unhappily arise it might be advisable for the Archdeacon to
suggest to the parties that they should agree to submit to his decision
of the disputed question, and waive their right of appeal to a Court of
Common Law. If this were agreed to the case might be amicably settled at
once without resource being had to any external litigation.
If a Churchwarden duly elected ceases in the course of the year to reside
in the parish he does not _ipso facto_ vacate the office, though it is a
good reason for resignation and the appointment of another in his place.
{13}
The Churchwardens being thus duly elected, and having made the legal
declaration at the visitation, continue in office until their successors
are elected, and have in their turn made the said declaration.
What, then, are their duties?
The Local Government Act, 1894, has in many ways affected them.
Churchwardens in rural parishes are no longer _ex-officio_ Overseers of
the Poor. {14} An additional number of Overseers may be appointed to
replace the Churchwardens, and reference in any Act to the Churchwardens
and Overseers, shall, as respects any rural parish (except so far as
those references relate to the affairs of the Church), be construed as
references to the Overseers, and the legal interest in all property
vested either in the Overseer of a rural parish (other than a property
connected with the affairs of the Church, or held for an Ecclesiastical
Charity), shall, if there is a Parish Council, vest in that Council.--V.
2, (_a_), (_b_), (_c_).
The Poor Relief Act, 1819, _i.e._, 59 Geo. III, cap. 12, enabled
Churchwardens and Overseers of a parish to acquire lands, &c., and they
were made a Corporation for that special purpose alone, and for the
specific purposes mentioned in the Act. Such lands, as regards rural
parishes having a Parish Council, now come under the management of the
Parish Council.
The Churchwardens of every rural parish are now only concerned as
Churchwardens with the affairs of the Church. What changes then, it will
be asked, are made with regard to Vestries?
Speaking generally as to rural parishes, the powers, duties, and
liabilities of the Vestry except (i) so far as relates to the affairs of
the Church or to Ecclesiastical Charities, or (ii) any power, duty, or
liability, transferred by this Act from the Vestry to any other authority
are transferred to the Parish Council.--6, a, 1, 2.
One word with regard to the expression, Ecclesiastical Charities. These
words include a charity, the endowment whereof is held for some one or
more of the following purposes:--
(_a_.) Any spiritual purpose which is a legal purpose, or,
(_b_.) For the benefit of any spiritual person, or ecclesiastical person
as such, or
(_c_.) For use, if a building, as a church, chapel, mission room, Sunday
School, or otherwise by any particular church or denomination, or
(_d_.) For the maintenance, repair, or improvement of any such building
as aforesaid, or for the maintenance of Divine service therein, or,
(_e_.) Otherwise for the benefit of any particular church or
denomination, or of any members thereof as such (Sec. 75, i).
Any endowment of a charity other than a building held in part only for
some of the purposes aforesaid, will be dealt with by the Charity
Commissioners on the application of any person interested.
The expression, Ecclesiastical Charity, includes any building which in
the opinion of the Charity Commissioners has been erected or provided
within forty years before the passing of this Act, mainly by or at the
cost of members of any particular church or denomination.
The expression, affairs of the church, includes the distribution of
offertories or other collections made in any church (sec. 75).
It may be well to add that the expression Parochial Charity, when used in
the Act, means a charity the benefits of which are, or the separate
distribution of the benefits of which is, confined to the inhabitants of
a single parish, or of a single ancient ecclesiastical parish divided
into two or more parishes, or of not more than five neighbouring
parishes. (_Ibid._)
These also come under the management of the Parish Council.
The provision of parish books and of a vestry room or parochial office,
parish chest, and the holding or management of parish property not being
property relating to affairs of the Church or held for an Ecclesiastical
charity, are also in rural parishes transferred to the Parish Council.
The custody of the registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, and of
all other books and documents containing entries wholly or partly
relating to the affairs of the Church or to Ecclesiastical charities,
except documents directed by law to be kept with the public books,
writings, and papers of the parish, remains as provided by law before the
passing of the Local Government Act, _i.e._, in the hands of the
incumbent.
The Parish Council have a right to reasonable access to all such books
and documents referred to above, and the incumbent and Churchwardens have
a similar right with respect to books, etc., in the custody of the Parish
Council (xvii, 8).
There is one matter connected with the particular section of the Local
Government Act, 1894, now under consideration, which has given rise to
some discussion. In whose custody should the Tithe Map and Award be
placed? Should the Incumbent or the Parish Council have the charge of
them? Now, I am no lawyer, and I should be very sorry to be supposed to
give any opinion on a question which admits of so much argument on both
sides. But I do very strongly deprecate any litigation on the matter.
It is a very doubtful point, and he who takes the question into a Court
of Law must at any rate be prepared to have to back up his opinion with a
well-filled purse. The final paragraph of Section 17, Sub-section 8,
almost seems as if the draughtsman of the act expected questions to arise
under it. It runs thus:--"The Incumbent and Churchwardens on the one
part, and the Parish Council on the other, shall have reasonable access
to all such books documents, writings, and papers, as are referred to in
this Sub-section, and any differences as to custody or access shall be
determined by the County Council." Is it not just a case in which, if
there is no cause for complaint, and no reasonable access refused, these
documents should remain in their existing custody (usually that of the
Incumbent), and that if differences arise, an amicable appeal should be
made to the County Council, and the decision of that body acquiesced in
by both parties?
This is evidently the opinion of the President of the Board of
Agriculture (Mr. Chaplin), who on February 8th, 1897, in the House of
Commons, replied as follows to a question on this subject:--
I am aware that questions have arisen with regard to the custody of
documents under Sub-section 8 of Section 17 of the Local Government
Act, 1894. The Act contemplated that this would be the case, and has
provided that any questions as to such custody shall be determined by
the County Council. The Local Government Board have no jurisdiction
to determine questions as regards the Tithe Map, and it has been
their practice to inform Parish Councils to this effect. I am
advised that Tithe Maps are under the Tithe Commutation Act, 1886, to
be kept "with the public books, writings, and papers of the parish,"
and the Sub-section to which I have referred requires therefore that
they shall either remain in their existing custody or be deposited in
such custody as the Parish Council may direct.
It may be well to mention here that when there is in a rural parish an
existing Vestry Clerk appointed under the Trustees Act, 1850, he shall
become the Clerk of the Parish Council, holding office by the same tenure
as before, and while performing the duties shall not receive less salary
or remuneration than before (sec. 81, 2, 4).
In our canons, which date from 1603, no fewer than eighteen refer to the
duties of Churchwardens. One canon enjoins them to present to the
ordinary those guilty of notorious crimes and scandals, hinderers of the
Word of God, disturbers of Divine Service, and non-communicants at
Easter. Other Canons refer to their duties in not allowing loiterers
near the Church in time of Divine Service, in providing bread and wine
for the Holy Communion, and marking those who present themselves at the
Lord's Table. Others enjoin them to take care that no stranger be
admitted to preach in Church without showing his licence; to provide a
sure coffer for the safe keeping of the registers, and to see that the
proper entries are therein made; to provide for the Church service books,
font, Communion table, and pulpit, and a chest for alms; and further, to
see that the Church is kept in sufficient reparation, that neither the
Church or Churchyard be in any way profaned; that the bells be not rung
at any time without good cause to be allowed by the minister of the place
and by themselves; to see that the parishioners duly resort to their
Church upon Sundays and holy days; that none stand idle in the
Churchyard, or make any disturbance in the Church or Churchyard during
the time of Divine Service; and further, call upon and exhort such as are
negligent in resorting to the Church that they fail not to amend their
ways; to keep the accounts connected with these matters; and, "last of
all, going out of their office they shall truly deliver up to the
parishioners whatever money or other things of right belonging to the
parish which remaineth in their hands, that they may be delivered over by
them to the next Churchwardens by bill indented." {22}
In the fulfilment of these duties it is, in my opinion, difficult to
exaggerate the influence for good which a Churchwarden may exercise in
the parish in which his lot is cast. Of course it is possible to perform
the duties perfunctorily, or to let them slide altogether; but if his
heart is really in his work, if he is anxious to do all in his power that
the ecclesiastical machinery in the parish should work smoothly, I will
undertake to say that he will find plenty of scope for his energies. If
lethargic or antagonistic he may greatly hinder the Church's work; but if
in a friendly spirit and with words of wisdom he is always ready to meet
the Rector and consult as to the advisability of this or that particular
course of action, the office becomes neither a surplusage nor a sinecure.
There is nothing worse in a parish than either clerical or lay clan-ship.
Isolation is good neither for the one nor the other. The interests of
both are the same, and surely their hands should be joined together for
common action in the common Master's cause.
And as it seems to me this side of his office comes into prominence in
connection with the induction of a new Incumbent. For the entering upon
a new cure is of undoubtedly great and solemn importance to the Parson
himself, but it is hardly less so to the parish. How much depends, as
regards the future peace, happiness, and prosperity of the parish, upon
the relations existing between Pastor and flock. No doubt the character,
zeal, energy, devotion, and even the idiosyncrasies, manner, and general
bearing of the Incumbent are of vital importance. Courtesy begets
courtesy. Consideration for the feelings of others is met in the same
spirit. But sometimes, I fear the Laity suppose that the peace of a
parish depends almost entirely upon the Clergyman. He is but a unit in
the parochial system. If one thing is more absolutely necessary than
another for the harmonious working of Clergy and Laity in a parish, or
the welfare of the whole, it is that there should be no suspicions the
one of the other. Perfect confidence and a generous trust should be the
rule of all dealings between Incumbents and Churchwardens.
It cannot but be expected that an Incumbent on first coming into a parish
should find some things which he would prefer otherwise. The special
hobbies, so to speak, of his predecessor may not be his. His energies
may not be put forth on exactly the same lines as those of the Incumbent
whom he succeeds. And then sometimes the staunch friends of the former
ministry may look coldly and askant upon the new Rector's labours and
think that his very efforts in fresh and hitherto untried fields are
reflections upon the past. It should not be so. All men are not cast in
the same mould. One branch of ministerial work may be more congenial to
one parish priest than another, and it is only natural that he should be
more devoted to that particular portion of work in which he seems to be
most successful. But changes are not synonymous with reflections upon a
former _regime_. A man should not be made an offender for a word. A
Churchwarden should be prepared in all good faith to transfer his
allegiance, if called upon so to do, from one Incumbent to another. It
is no disloyalty to do so. The "King is dead; long live the King" is
loyalty alike to the past and to the newly reigning Sovereign. If old
customs are changed, old practices discontinued, the Churchwarden should
find out by private inquiry from his Rector the why and the wherefore,
and if the change is for the better he should not let love of existing
practice be stereotyped into a desire of a never changing system, which
may perchance easily slide into lethargy and somnolent repose. In these
days it does not do merely
"Stare super antiquas vias."
Some persons I know are so constituted that they suspect the existence of
a snake under every blade of grass. It is not a happy disposition either
for the person who is possessed with this idiosyncrasy, or in its reflex
action upon others. True charity thinketh no evil. It is far better to
be over sanguine in our charitable estimate of other men's motives, even
if we do sometimes ultimately find that our estimate was wrong, than to
be constantly living in an atmosphere of suspicion. Suspicion and
consequent mistrust often produce the very effects which otherwise would
never have had any existence at all.
I have ventured to say these few words because I feel very strongly how
much the ecclesiastical peace of a parish depends upon the harmonious
action of the Incumbent and Churchwardens. It is not often that the case
is otherwise. Generally speaking they work zealously and actively
together, ready as occasion may arise to adopt, if necessary, new methods
of warfare in the conflict against sin and evil as fellow-workers with
the Clergy in the great work of the Church on earth.
Let me then state, as briefly as I can, some of a Churchwarden's duties.
I suppose him to be duly elected, and to have taken the declaration at
the visitation either of the Bishop, the Chancellor, or the Archdeacon.
It would be well that the first step should be to look to the fences of
the Churchyard and the general state of the fabric of the Church--the
roof, the tiles, the tower or spire, and the general fittings of the
Church. If any of these are found to be seriously out of order, counsel
should be at once taken with the Incumbent as to the proper course to be
adopted. In these matters a stitch in time often saves nine, and though
we have now no compulsory Church-rate to fall back upon for Church
expenses, yet in an harmoniously worked parish there really ought to be
no insurmountable difficulty in raising the sum necessary for the due
repairs of the Church and for the services of the Sanctuary. Offertories
and subscriptions can be made to supplement one another, and if what is
necessary in the way of repair is really honestly done year by year, it
will be much easier to raise the funds wanted than if by neglect and
postponement a large outlay is suddenly found to be absolutely necessary
in order to avoid some dreadful catastrophe.
In this general preliminary survey the state of the Churchyard will
naturally come under his notice. The Churchyard is the freehold of the
Incumbent, which he holds in trust for the service which it is intended
to subserve. Sometimes an arrangement is made by him with the
Churchwardens as to the keeping the Churchyard tidy. No doubt the
Churchwardens are bound to see that the proper measures for this purpose
are taken by themselves or the Incumbent. But although our Churches,
speaking generally, are in good repair, yet it seems to me that in many
cases sufficient attention is not paid to the keeping of the Churchyard
in proper order. The days are gone by when horned cattle were allowed to
find sweet pasture in the resting-place of the dead, but sheep still
linger in some country districts. And there is often a temptation not
always successfully resisted--when the Churchyard is large--that the crop
of grass during the summer months should be allowed to grow without
interference by scythe or machine, until fit to be cut for hay. But I do
feel strongly that the temptation _should be_ resisted. Nothing so
quickly awakens doubtful feelings in the breast of a passer-by as to the
zeal, energy and devotion of the Incumbent, as a Churchyard untidy and
unkempt, paths full of weeds, hedges untrimmed, grass long and
straggling. Nothing, on the other hand, is so grateful to all the
parishioners of a particular parish as the Churchyard well kept and
looked after, the graves neat and trimmed, the whole place by its very
appearance asserting its right to the title of God's Acre. I do not like
to see the Parsonage garden filled with lovely flowers, and in beautiful
order, while the adjoining Churchyard is starved. Let each receive the
attention which is its proper due.
With regard to closed Churchyards the obligations of the Churchwardens in
rural parishes with respect to maintaining and repairing closed
Churchyards, wherever the expenses of such maintenance and repair are
repayable out of the Poor Rate under the Burial Act, 1855, {30a} are
transferred to the Parish Council. Provided that such obligations shall
not in the case of any particular parish be deemed to attach, unless or
until the Churchwardens subsequent to the passing of this Act shall give
a certificate as in the Burial Act, 1855, provided, in order to obtain
the repayment of such expenses out of the Poor Rate (sec. 6, II, _b_).
It has been decided that {30b} if a Churchyard is closed by order in
Council it must be kept in order by the Churchwardens, and if it be a
Cemetery formed by a Burial Board, then by the Burial Board. In the
former case the expenses would, under the Local Government Act, be repaid
to the Churchwardens in rural parishes by the Parish Council, on
presentation of the proper certificate as mentioned in the previous
paragraph.
If the Churchyard requires enlargement, and an adjoining piece of ground
can be obtained, it is well to remember that a special Act has been
passed (30 and 31 Vict., c. 133) for diminishing the expense connected
with the consecration of ground so added to an old Churchyard. The form
of conveyance is given in the Act; the powers given in the School Sites'
Act "to persons being seised in fee simple, fee tail, or for life of and
in any manor or lands of freehold, copyhold or customary tenure, and
having the beneficial interest therein, to grant, convey, or enfranchise
by way of gift, sale or exchange in fee simple, or for term of years, any
quantity not exceeding one acre of such land as a site for a school" are
"deemed to apply to all persons desirous of granting land for the purpose
of such enlargement" (of an existing Churchyard) "in the same way as if
the said land had been granted as a site for a school."
In cases in which it is wished to provide a burial ground under a burial
board, the first step to be taken is for a vestry to be summoned _seven_
days before the holding of such meeting, to take the subject into
consideration, and if it is agreed to proceed in the matter, a
requisition to that effect must be sent to the Home Secretary, and the
officials of the Home Office will send down full directions as to the
mode of procedure. {32}