Buildings and maintenance / Chancel Repair Liability
Supplement to the GUIDANCE FOR INCUMBENTS AND PCCs CONCERNING CHANCEL REPAIR LIABILITY
NOTES ON HOW TO RESEARCH PARISH RECORDS FOR CHANCEL REPAIR OBLIGATIONS
Introduction
These notes are written for parishes wishing to register any historic rights to call upon particular persons or institutions to contribute towards repairs to the chancel. The deadline is 2013, after which all such rights will be lost.
It is not easy or straightforward to trace the succession of lay rectors and of lands bearing obligation to contribute towards the repair of the chancels in particular parishes. Historic records vary greatly from parish to parish, and are often difficult.
How to carry out the research
1 The starting point of investigation should be printed sources.
• All Gloucestershire parishes were surveyed in detail by Ralph Bigland during the 18th Century; the information covers manorial descents, patrons, incumbents, church architecture, monuments and much else. His work has been published by Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society in a series of volumes beginning in 1989.
• For Wiltshire the history of many parishes within the Bristol diocese has been published in recent years by the Victoria County History, including authoritative material on churches, patrons, tithes, enclosures etc, and with comprehensive references to documentary sources.
• Many parish histories have also been published during the last few decades and there are numerous local history societies.
2 The next step should be a visit to the appropriate county record office (at Trowbridge, Gloucester or Bristol) to examine any enclosure map and award which may exist or to consult the tithe map and award. Where they exist, enclosure awards may list the obligations of specific lands for objects such as contributions to the parish poor or the maintenance of the parish church. Abstracts of Wiltshire awards and agreements were edited by RE Sandell and published by Wiltshire Record Society, Volume 25, in 1971. Tithe maps and awards were made for each English parish in the years following the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 and as well as providing the first large-scale authoritative map for each parish they also give precise details of tithe owners, lands, landowners, occupiers and the various tithe obligations. Abstracts of Wiltshire tithe apportionments were edited by RE Sandell and published by Wiltshire Record Society, Volume 30, in 1975.
3 If any of these sources suggest that some responsibility for contribution to the church once existed then a more detailed search among the diocesan and parochial archives would be justified. This should look especially at surviving churchwardens’ accounts, correspondence, faculties, tithe disputes and other documentation relating to the repair of the parish church and the sources from which such repairs were financed. A convenient and trustworthy list of Bristol diocesan archives can be found in Isabel M Kirby, “A Catalogue of the Records of the Bishop and Archdeacons and of the Dean and Chapter”, published by Bristol Corporation in 1970.
4 This is a large and complex subject and these notes can only be a starting point. If any parish feels that preliminary investigation indicates that more detailed searches should be carried out, each county record office has a list of researchers who will carry out such work for a fee. The county archivist will provide advice as to the best person to do this.
Diocese of Bristol, DAC Office, August 2007