never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

it tolls for thee.

Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, “Meditation XVII”
John Donne
(written in 1624 whilst Dean of St. Paul’s, following a potentially fatal bout of spotted fever)

A young chap that lives in West View Road, Carlton (a private, unadopted road) explained during my latest mapping session that his house is subject to Chancel Repair Liability. The object in the middling distance below is responsible for that (it is called ‘Gedling Church’):

The Carlton householder explained Chancel Tax as applying to those that “can hear the Church bells”. The full story (Wikipedia) is less romantic and much more complex, but the statement is accurate enough in it’s way. It is a uniquely English & Welsh story, involving medieval (pre-1536) church history, Henry VIII & rich men’s responsibilities that have come to haunt modern land-owners (those that own their own house).

The ‘Chancel’ is the liturgical heart of an Anglican Church (normally at the east end, and so on). Chancel Tax originates hundreds of years ago as the responsibility of land-owners to pay for the upkeep of a church (normally their parish church). Getting from those medieval times to now involves a fabulously tortured path, and the consequences can be likewise.

This all came to a head for Adrian and Gail Wallbank in 2009 when they were forced to sell their home. A couple of decades earlier they out-of-the-blue had received a bill upon their doormat for £100,000 GBP of Chancel Tax (the same value at that time as their home) and had decided to fight it through the courts. It took 18 years for them to lose their case; they then had to find an additional £250,000 GBP for legal costs (£350,000 GBP total; $454,000 USD, €408,000 Euro currently).

This is a curious connection to my earlier Diary entry on Ecclesiastical Parishes. Wikipedia states that there are ~15,000 such parishes, of which 5,200 are responsible for chancel repair. Of those, only a minority have exercised their right to deploy this Tax if required. A 2014 House of Lords bill, if enacted, will finally remove all such rights to do so.

Most interesting (unless your home is threatened by it).