In 1660, an ancestor of the petitioner gifted four pieces of plate to St Peter's, Woodcote unconditionally. In February 2007, the church was deconsecrated. Technically, the church is still in use because the necessary pastoral scheme has not been put into effect. The petitioner, who did not live in the parish, petitioned for a faculty to gift three of the items in question to the church of St James, Cotes Heath and for the fourth item, a silver flagon, to be given to himself. Neither the parish nor the Council for the Care of Churches supported the application, and the DAC made no comment. The chancellor ruled that the petitioner had no proprietary interest in the items. Even if the petitioner did have a proprietary interest in the plate, the chancellor ruled that he would still not grant a faculty for any item to be ‘gifted’ in the way requested to a private individual without there being an extremely good reason for doing so. No such good reason had been advanced here. The petition was dismissed. [JG]