Faculties (was G&J)

[CHRIS PICKFORD]

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The Ickleton example is one of the classics, as Mike says. Clerkenwell was =
another

But don't be too judgmental on Cyril Johnston, as the faculty system in its=
present form wasn't quite as it is now - and had only really started to be=
used for furnishings and fittings and other alterations after the introduc=
tion of ecclesiastical exemption in about 1920. It's important to have reg=
ard for how the system operated at the time.

The faculty system has been in use for many centuries, but it wasn't always=
used for everything. Even major church restorations were carried out witho=
ut faculties even up to World War I. To over-simplify, the system was reall=
y used originally where property rights were affected - pew ownership etc. =
Towards the end of the nineteenth century come diocese started to expect fa=
culty authorisation for memorials and windows, but even then bell work usua=
lly escaped the net

The period after the establishment of DACs and ecclesiastical exemption saw=
an existing mechanism evolved and adapted to suit a new need - and the str=
ings tightened. The key point is that the classic G&J cases of the 1920s w=
ere as much about DACs and chancellors tightening their grip as about CFJ a=
cting in a cavalier manner in disregard of the system

An over-simplification, as I say, but an instance of needing to avoid judgi=
ng the past by the norms of today.=20



CP
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