§ 3.36 p.m.
§ THE LORD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER rose to move to resolve, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Inspection of Churches Measure, 1955, be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent. The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, I am sure your Lordships will welcome this Measure as a practical proof of the deep concern in the Church for what is one of our most prized and unique national treasures—namely, our ancient churches. So much are they a national treasure that, as you may be aware, a few years ago a £4 million fund was opened to gather in from other sources this vast sum of money to augment what the Church itself raises—something like £1 million a year—for the repair of ancient and newer churches, in order that in ten years' time every parish church of the land shall be fully restored and in good order after the inevitable lapse and delay during the war.
§ But if all our churches are to be thus restored and put in good order, there then follows the next big duty of maintaining them in good repair. Those of your Lordships who are landlords will know that in this matter of buildings the old proverb "A stitch in time saves nine" applies possibly more than in any other field, so quickly can a whole roof be destroyed by dry rot just because a gutter has been allowed to remain blocked with dead leaves. In the debate on this Measure in the Church Assembly, it was remarked 454 that in the diocese of Lincoln, where they are now faced with a bill of repairs of a quarter of a million pounds for something like 500 churches, three-quarters of that sum could have been saved if there had been a proper inspection of those churches and the slight repairs that were necessary some years ago had then received attention.
§ By the Canons of 1603, at the present time the archdeacon is responsible for the inspection of churches every three years; but, as your Lordships will agree, very few archdeacons have professional qualifications to fulfil this particular task, though they have done it very conscientiously and to the best of their ability. Moreover, because a man exchanges a pair of trousers for a pair of gaiters, it does not mean that his archidiaconal legs are thereby endowed with the necessary agility and balance to run up and down ladders or to go scrambling over roofs. Therefore this Measure is intended to ensure that every five years all churches shall be properly inspected by qualified architects.
§ Your Lordships will see that, by Section 1 of the Measure, every diocese is to set up its own scheme according to its own special needs, circumstances and usages. The dioceses are grateful for this wide latitude, because each diocese differs much in its conditions and set-up from other dioceses. Then, secondly, again by Section 1, you will see that a fund is to be established in each diocese to meet the expense of the inspection. It is not to fall entirely or necessarily on each individual parish, but the money may come from diocesan or other sources. Thirdly, to ensure that the architect who does the work is properly qualified, the advisory committee of the diocese must approve the choice. They are the right body to do so, for every diocese now has an advisory committee which already deals with churches: nothing can be done to, or put into, a church without there first being consultation with the advisory committee. Then a report is to be made, and is to be sent to the archdeacon and also to the appropriate church council. Finally, under Section 2 the archdeacon is made responsible for seeing that the inspections are carried out. He is obviously the right person, his office requiring him also to see that the repairs to churches are carried out. This Measure passed the Church Assembly without a Division. It 455 was carefully debated and two main criticisms were offered, both of which concern inspection, more particularly of ancient churches. It may save time if I mention these criticisms to your Lordships. The first was that, in these days of steel and concrete buildings, there were not enough architects with experience in the care of old churches. This work of inspection does not, however, require that expert knowledge of, for example, the right mixture of mortar for a thirteenth-century fabric or the particular method of construction of a mediæval wall, such as is required for the actual repair work. Though architects more particularly qualified, and with experience of work on ancient churches, may be necessary for carrying out such work, inspection does not necessitate such exact knowledge. It is necessary only to have a knowledgeable person who can notice patches of damp, or the effects of dry rot or beetle, where these are suspected. The demand is, in fact, beginning to produce the supply, for under this Measure there will be over 3,000 churches to be inspected each year, and already the A.R.I.B.A. is co-operating most admirably in encouraging young architects to take up this particular branch of work.
§ The other criticism concerns costs. It was thought that in some cases the cost might be prohibitive. The Bishop of Norwich has in his diocese 700 churches, nearly all of them glorious and ancient. He instanced the case of a church which has very fine monuments in a parish which was held by an incumbent in plurality with two other churches. This particular church was in a parish of only sixteen people, comprising three families, two of which were Nonconformists; and the Bishop wondered where the money was to come from. The answer is that in this particular matter, Norwich is gloriously abnormal. In the ordinary normal diocese such work can be carried out quite easily, but where there are particular circumstances, such as at Norwich, then some particular remedy must be found.
§ Each diocese has its own special problem. That of the diocese of Norwich is mainly the maintenance of existing churches, most of them ancient. In my diocese of Rochester our problem is not only to maintain our ancient parish churches of which we are so proud—for 456 we are the second oldest diocese in England—but also to build new ones. Our proximity to London has meant that we have had to build a new church every year for the last century, and we are faced with the need to build twenty more, which is a much more expensive task. It was possibly because, in our diocese of Rochester, we already had this scheme working before it was born in the Assembly, and have found it not only workable but beneficial, that I was entrusted with the honour of presenting this Measure to your Lordships.
§ Under our scheme, our building committee, which makes grants for the repair of churches, has been allotted a further sum of between £200 and £300 for the inspection of all our churches every five years. We hope that we shall not spend that sum every year because, in practice, the cost is not nearly so expensive as might be thought. Many churches already possess an architect of their own—someone who lives in the parish or is a member of the congregation and does the work voluntarily. In other cases, wherever we find that work is being undertaken in a church, we ask that the church shall be inspected at the same time. This means only a very small addition to the cost of the work. Parsonage houses have to be inspected every five years, and we arrange that the architect, on his visit of inspection to the parsonage house, shall also inspect the church. Lastly, in other cases it is quite possible to group churches so that three churches may be inspected on two days. Under the R.I.B.A. day rates that is not a very expensive operation. Four copies of the inspection report are made. One goes to the Bishop, one to the Archdeacon, one is filed in the diocese office and one goes to the parochial church council. We are finding that, as the parochial church council are relieved of the trouble of having their church inspected, and also of any special fee for inspection, their response in carrying out the work indicated as necessary by the inspection is admirable and full of good will. So far as I can see, there is therefore nothing to be lost but everything to be gained by the scheme here proposed. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Inspection of Churches Measure, 1955, 457 be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.—(The Lord Bishop of Rochester.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly.