Welcome to the website of the Holy Trinity Church, Eccleshall , Staffordshire

The Platform

The construction work on the platform is now complete and it has been used and even admired by visitors and members of the congregation. One person said it looked as if it had always been there, praise indeed. Next time you are in the church do please find a few moments to walk to the platform and give it the 'once over', we think that you will appreciate it.

The history of the 'struggle' to obtain permission for the platform from the church authorities is detailed below.

We have included a few photographs of the platform for you to see.

Holy Trinity Church, Eccleshall - A brief summary of the judgment of the Court of Arches,  30th July 2010, overturning a ruling of Lichfield Consistory Court (5th November 2009)

The Court of Arches used the case to make many comments on procedure. It found that the Chancellor of Lichfield Diocese should have excused himself from further dealing with the case. But the weightier matter concerned the substance of November ruling. Here are some quotations from the judgment:

Having studied the drawings and photographs, and all the materials he had before him, we find difficulty is understanding what it was about “the enormity of the project” and the “substantial material alteration in the internal appearance of this beautiful church” that so troubled [the Chancellor].

The Chancellor made no attempt to engage with the very detailed analysis contained in a two-page letter to the Vicar from Alan Taylor, Inspector of Historic Buildings at English Heritage, dated 4 July, which was forwarded to the Registry on 13 July, and expressly invoked by the petitioners in their further written representations of 6 October. [That letter concluded:] "For all these reasons English Heritage is satisfied that this is a well considered and thoughtfully designed introduction to the church. It should greatly enhance existing worship and opportunities for future development in a way which will not compromise the special architectural and historic qualities of the grade I listed building." There could not have been more coherent, or enthusiastic, support for the proposal from the public body charged with the protection and conservation of listed buildings....

If [the Chancellor] is to reach a different conclusion [from expert advice like English Heritage's], he must give a reasoned explanation why the expert evidence has been rejected. The Chancellor did not do this in the present case. Further the court is entirely satisfied on examination of all the evidence that the proposals will not adversely affect the character of Holy Trinity Church as a building of special architectural or historic interest, for the reasons set out in Mr Taylor’s letter.

...there is no indication that reversibility was taken into account by the Chancellor. We regard this as an error...

 ...the proposal’s contribution to equalizing standards of access is undoubtedly a factor in the scheme’s favour which this court takes into account...

The members of this court are agreed that we would have struck the balance, on all the evidence, in a very different way than did the Chancellor.

[The Chancellor's evaluation] was an evaluation of the evidence which did not properly take into account the careful explanation he had been given for the size and location of the platform; nor did the Chancellor give any reasons for differing from the expert evidence before him, particularly that of English Heritage in relation to the effect on the listed building....we find great difficulty in understanding his decision to reject the petition.

We are satisfied that on a proper evaluation of the evidence the chancellor should have granted a faculty, and that such a faculty should now issue...

The Right Worshipful Charles George QC, Dean of the Arches, The Worshipful Chancellor Timothy Briden, Worshipful Chancellor Linda Box