Like many heritage organisations, the Church Monuments Society was extremely concerned to hear about the proposals at the recent Church of England Synod for reducing the regulatory oversight for the disposal of buildings once a church has been closed. While we accept that churches cannot always be kept in use, they are the repository of a lot of history and many of our artistic treasures. Even unlisted churches and their churchyards may contain sculptures and other artworks of great interest. We have been following the debate and are looking at ways to make our concerns felt.

Some more information :

Joint letter from Victorian Society, Georgian Group, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Historic Buildings and Places and the National Churches Trust at https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/national-news/joint-statement-on-mission-and-pastoral-measure-and-regulations/

A follow-up letter from the Victorian Society at https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/national-news/5486/

The text of the proposal is at https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/gs-2394-mission-and-pastoral-measure.pdf  (monuments are at sections 58-63)

The actual Synod debate is at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ddslEXbzg from 42.00 to 1.42.00 with a summary by the proposer at 1.35.00 (thanks to the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance for this link).

Click below for a very detailed analysis of the proposed measure.