Benjamin Harrison successful in an important Consistory Court case addressing the circumstances in which privately owned land, consecrated according to the rites of the Church of England, may be used for secular purposes
11th June 2026
Benjamin Harrison successfully appeared on behalf of the Petitioner before the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Blackburn in a case which considered (as a preliminary issue) the circumstances in which consecrated land in private (non-church) ownership may be used for secular purposes.
In Calderstones Cemetery (No.2) [2026] Ecc Bla 1 the Petitioner sought permission to develop consecrated land within a former cemetery, including the restoration of a chapel and lychgate, road improvements, parking, landscaping, and utilities, all ancillary to a proposed crematorium on adjoining land that had already been deconsecrated. After reviewing a large body of case law from the ecclesiastical courts, the Chancellor (HHJ Hodge KC) determined that the proposed development is permissible in appropriate cases, provided it is in the public interest. The court gave guidance and summarised the relevant principles to be applied in such cases in paragraphs 104-105 of the judgment.
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