ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF EAST ANGLIA
HISTORIC CHVRCHES COMMITTEE

Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held at 11.00 a.m. on
Wednesday 17th September, 2008 at The Catholic Rectory, Cambridge


Members present: The Revd. John Barnes, Mr. Andrew Derrick, The Right Revd. Dom Charles Fitzgerald-Lombard, Mr. David Holgate, The Revd. Mgr. Tony Rogers V.G., Mr. Anthony Rossi (Vice-Chairman), and The Revd. James Walsh.

Secretary: The Revd. Edmund Eggleston.

 

Prayers were said The Reverend John Barnes.

 

Apologies for Absence: The Secretary had received apologies from Mr. Julian Limentani (Chairman), Lt.-Col. John Pitt, and Dr. Bill Wilson who were unable to attend the meeting.

In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, Mr. Anthony Rossi, took the chair at this meeting.



Minutes of the Previous Meeting: The Secretary had circulated the Minutes of the meeting held at Norwich on 11th June 2008 to the members of the Committee. The Committee accepted these as a true and accurate record of the meeting and they were duly signed by Mr. Rossi.



Matters arising from the Minutes:

Stations of the Cross at Gorleston: The Secretary had received a letter from Mr. Alexander which gave a comprehensive history of the Stations of the Cross in St. Peter’s Church at Gorleston. The Committee gave this letter full and careful consideration. The Committee asked the Secretary to reply to Mr. Alexander. The Committee wish to encourage the Parish to consider placing the Stations of the Cross in the positions that were intended by the architect of the church, Eric Gill.

Members of the Committee again expressed concern about the lectern which has been introduced into Gorleston church without a Faculty from Bishop Michael Evans.

 

Membership of the Committee:

There remains a vacancy on the Committee for a representative of a local planning authority. A member of the Committee said the Department of Culture, Media and Sport may in the future drop this requirement, as many H.C.C.s are finding it difficult to appoint a local planning authority representative.

The Vice-Chairman welcomed Abbot Charles Fitzgerald-Lombard, Parish Priest of Bungay, who has been appointed to the Committee by Bishop Michael Evans since the last meeting of the Committee.

 

Gorleston, Saint Peter the Apostle:

Installation of external security cameras.

Planning Consent is required for this installation and the Gorleston parish have submitted an application to Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

The Conservation Officer of Great Yarmouth Borough Council has expressed reservations about this application. English Heritage have expressed a preference for cameras to be mounted on posts or other buildings rather than on the church.

The Committee deferred making a decision about this application until their next meeting, as they considered the information which had been submitted was insufficient. They asked the Secretary to obtain from the applicant photographs of the building marking the positions of the cameras and copies of the papers and drawings submitted to the local planning authority with the parish’s application for planning consent.

 

The Vice-Chairman, Mr. Rossi, declared a personal interest in the next agenda item, and vacated the chair. With the approval of all present, Father John Barnes took the chair at this point.

 

Norwich, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Baptist: Relocating screens, new steps behind Sanctuary and the relocating of the Sanctuary lamp.

The Committee gave full and careful consideration to this application. The Secretary had received responses expressing reservations from all three of the statutory consultees and these letters had been circulated to the members of the Committee.

After a lengthy discussion the Committee found themselves unable to reach a decision about the first two parts of this application (relocating the screens and the introduction of new steps) and deferred making a decision until their next meeting. Father James Walsh agreed to the Committee’s request that the December 2008 meeting be held at Norwich.

Members of the Committee suggested to Father Walsh that consideration could be given to placing all four wood-screens along the side of the sunken chapel adjacent to the nave aisle.

The Committee gave approval to the rehanging of the Sanctuary Lamp on the arch at the entrance to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

 

At 12.30 p.m. Mgr. Tony Rogers left the meeting.

 

 

Correspondence Received:

 

Norwich, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Baptist:

Letter received from Mr. Anthony Rossi regarding St. John’s Cathedral, Norwich.

Letter received from The Rev’d. James Walsh, Cathedral Dean, in reply to Mr. Anthony Rossi’s letter.

Father Barnes thanked Mr. Rossi and Father Walsh for their letters. The Committee did not wish to comment on the content of the letters.



North Walsham, The Sacred Heart:

Letter received from Mr. Anthony Rossi concerning reordering of the Sanctuary at North Walsham. Mr. Rossi declared a professional interest in this case.

The Committee approved Mr. Rossi’s request that the step down into the sacristy from the sanctuary should be of a semi-circular form as originally designed.

 

At the conclusion of this agenda item, Mr. Rossi resumed the chair of the meeting.



King of Prussia and Presidents’ Awards:

E-mail communication from the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association requesting nomination of candidates for King of Prussia and Presidents’ Awards, by 30th September. The Committee did not wish to submit any nominations for these awards this year



Redundant Church:

Lynford, Our Lady of Consolation and St. Stephen.

The Secretary had received an e-mail communication from Lt.-Col. John Pitt stating that no further progress had been made on the 99 year lease agreement with the Norfolk Churches Trust. It was noted that the Norfolk Churches Trust had included an article about the church at Lynford in their annual report.

 

Dates of H.C.C. Meetings in 2009

The following dates were proposed for meetings during 2009:

** Thursday 12th March, Wednesday 10th June, Wednesday 9th September and Wednesday 2nd December. [** Note: The March meeting will be on Thursday 12th, English Martyrs Cambridge were unable to offer hospitality on Wednesday 11th March].

The present Committee comes to the end of its three year term in March 2009.



Any other business
There being no other business the Vice-Chairman thanked all for their attendance and closed the meeting at 1.05 p.m.