The petitioners, a widower and the priest in charge of the parish, sought a faculty to erect a heart-shaped black granite memorial to the former's late wife in the churchyard. The proposed inscription was uncontroversial, but the design of the proposed memorial was contrary to the churchyard regulations. The DAC declined to recommend the proposal but the PCC had given its approval by a 6-5 majority in a secret ballot. The churchyard surrounding the Grade 1 listed parish church contained memorials of a number of styles and materials, but none heart-shaped. The chancellor weighed the general assumption that heart-shaped memorials are not acceptable in a churchyard against the pastoral needs and concerns of the petitioners, not least the claim of the widower that his pastoral needs and those of his family required that the faculty be granted. In conclusion, the chancellor held that to allow such a memorial would in all likelihood create a precedent and, in weighing the pastoral concerns, that
i. a memorial in a churchyard is not intended to be a judgment on the worthiness of the deceased or to reflect how loved or appreciated he or she was by family or others. If it were otherwise, those who wished to show their love and appreciation of the deceased would inevitably seek permission for more elaborate and grandiose memorials;
ii. the deceased's desire that she had a heart-shaped memorial (and equally an applicant's own assessment of what is a worthy memorial to a loved one) cannot weigh heavily in the determination as to whether such a memorial should be permitted. If it were otherwise, there could be no effective system of regulation of memorials in churchyards;
iii. a memorial cannot be justified simply because it is said that it will meet the pastoral needs of the deceased's family.
The application was refused, but the petitioners were given the opportunity to submit an application for a memorial with a heart etched onto a standard-shape stone at the suggestion of the DAC. [WA]
