Welsh Church Act 1914

Part IU.K. Disestablishment and Vesting and Distribution of Property

DisestablishmentU.K.

1 Disestablishment and prohibition of future appointments.U.K.

On the day . . . F1 (in this Act referred to as the date of disestablishment), the Church of England, so far as it extends to and exists in Wales and Monmouthshire (in this Act referred to as the Church in Wales), shall cease to be established by law, and, save as by this Act provided, no person shall, after the passing of this Act, be appointed or nominated by His Majesty or any person, by virtue of any existing right of patronage, to any ecclesiastical office in the Church in Wales.

2 Ecclesiastical corporations and bishops.U.K.

(1)On the date of disestablishment every cathedral and ecclesiastical corporation in the Church in Wales, whether sole or aggregate, shall be dissolved.

(2)On and after the date of disestablishment no bishop of the Church in Wales shall as such be summoned to or be qualified to sit or vote as a Lord of Parliament; but save as aforesaid every person who is at the passing of this Act a bishop, dean, canon, or archdeacon of or the holder of any ecclesiastical office in the Church in Wales, shall during his life enjoy the same title and precedence as if this Act had not passed.

(3)Writs of summons shall be issued to bishops not disqualified by this enactment for sitting in the House of Lords as if the bishops so disqualified had vacated their sees.

F2(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 Ecclesiastical law and courts.U.K.

(1)As from the date of disestablishment ecclesiastical courts and persons in Wales and Monmouthshire shall cease to exercise any jurisdiction, and the ecclesiastical law of the Church in Wales shall cease to exist as law.

(2)As from the same date the then existing ecclesiastical law and the then existing articles, doctrines, rites, rules, discipline, and ordinances of the Church of England shall, with and subject to such modification or alteration, if any, as after the passing of this Act may be duly made therein, according to the constitution and regulations for the time being of the Church in Wales, be binding on the members for the time being of the Church in Wales in the same manner as if they had mutually agreed to be so bound, and shall be capable of being enforced in the temporal courts in relation to any property which by virtue of this Act is held on behalf of the said Church or any members thereof, in the same manner and to the same extent as if such property had been expressly assured upon trust to be held on behalf of persons who should be so bound:

(3)The said constitution and regulations of the Church in Wales may, notwithstanding anything in this section, provide for the establishment for the Church in Wales of ecclesiastical courts, and, if the Archbishop of Canterbury consents, for appeals from any of the courts so established being heard and determined by the provincial court of the Archbishop, and the Archbishop may, with the approval of His Majesty in Council, give such consent, but no such courts shall exercise any coercive jurisdiction and no appeal shall lie from any such court to His Majesty in Council.

(4)The power of making by such constitution and regulations alterations and modifications in ecclesiastical law shall include the power of altering and modifying such law so far as it is embodied in F3. . . any F3. . . Act of Parliament.

(5)As from the date of disestablishment the bishops and clergy of the Church in Wales shall cease to be members of or be represented in the Houses of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, but nothing in this Act shall affect the powers of those Houses so far as they relate to matters outside Wales and Monmouthshire.

Vesting of PropertyU.K.

4 Vesting of property.U.K.

(1)As from the date of disestablishment there shall F4. . . vest in the Welsh Commissioners hereinafter mentioned—

(a)all property vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or Queen Anne’s Bounty, which is ascertained as hereinafter mentioned to be Welsh ecclesiastical property; and

(b)all property not so vested, and not consisting of charges on the common fund of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, which, at the passing of this Act, belongs to or is appropriated to the use of any ecclesiastical office or cathedral corporation in the Church in Wales, or the holder of any such office as such;

subject, in the case of all such property, to all tenancies, charges, and incumbrances, and to all rights and interests saved by this Act, affecting the property.

(2)F5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Apportionment of property by Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne’s Bounty.U.K.

(1)The Ecclesiastical Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act and before the date of disestablishment, ascertain and by order declare what property vested in them at the passing of this Act, or under the provisions herein-after in this section contained, consists of property of either of the classes or descriptions mentioned in Part I of the First Schedule to this Act, and property so ascertained and declared shall, subject to the adjustments made in accordance with Part II of the same Schedule, and to such alterations therein as may be made between the passing of this Act and the date of disestablishment, be Welsh ecclesiastical property within the meaning of this Act.

(2)Queen Anne’s Bounty shall as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, and before the date of disestablishment, ascertain and by order declare what property vested in them at the passing of this Act, or under the provisions herein-after in this section contained, is property of the class or description mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, and all property so ascertained and declared shall, subject to such alterations therein and additions thereto as may be made between the passing of this Act and the date of disestablishment, be Welsh ecclesiastical property within the meaning of this Act, and the order shall distinguish between the property derived from grants made by Queen Anne’s Bounty out of the Royal Bounty Fund or moneys provided by Parliament and property derived from other sources.

(3)There shall as from the passing of this Act become vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne’s Bounty respectively all property (other than ecclesiastical residences) belonging to or appropriated to the use of any ecclesiastical office or cathedral corporation in the Church in Wales, or the holder of any such office as such, towards the purchase of which grants made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne’s Bounty respectively have been applied; but such vesting shall not affect any beneficial interest in any such property.

(4)Orders of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne’s Bounty under this section and the Schedules therein referred to shall be made with the concurrence of the Welsh Commissioners, or, in default of such concurrence, with the approval of His Majesty the King in Council given on the advice of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

6 Powers and liabilities of Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne’s Bounty after disestablishment. U.K.

As from the date of disestablishment, any liability or power of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or Queen Anne’s Bounty to make payments for any ecclesiastical purpose in or connected with the Church in Wales shall cease:

(a)they shall continue to make such payments as are required for the purpose of preserving any existing interests; and

(b)F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c)F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(d)F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7 Private benefactions.U.K.

F7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Distribution of PropertyU.K.

8 Distribution of property by Welsh Commissioners.U.K.

(1)Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Welsh Commissioners shall by order transfer the property vested in them by this Act, as follows:—

(a)they shall transfer to the representative body—

(i)all churches;

(ii)all ecclesiastical residences, together with any moveable chattels held and enjoyed with or as incident to the occupation of any such residence, by the incumbent for the time being of the office to which the residence is attached;

(iii)all funds or endowments specially allocated to the repair, restoration, or improvement of the fabric of any such church or ecclesiastical residence;

(iv)all property which consists of or is the produce of or is or has been derived from grants made by Queen Anne’s Bounty out of moneys provided by Parliament;

(v)all property which consists of or is the produce of or is or has been derived from grants made by Queen Anne’s Bounty out of the Royal Bounty Fund;

(vi)all private benefactions;

(vii)if so requested by the representative body, any glebe or other land, not comprised within any of the above-mentioned categories and not being a burial ground; subject to the payment by the representative body to the Welsh Commissioners of a sum equal to the value thereof, such value to be determined in default of agreement by arbitration, regard being had to the tenancies, charges, incumbrances, interests, and rights subject to which the land is transferred to the representative body;

(viii)if so requested by the representative body, any burial grounds which before the date of disestablishment have been closed under or in pursuance of the provisions of any Act of Parliament or of any Order in Council made thereunder;

(b). . . . F8

(c)of the property not so transferred to the representative body they shall transfer any tithe rentcharge which was formerly appropriated to the use of any parochial benefice to the council of the county in which the land out of which the tithe rentcharge issues is situate:

(d)of the property not so transferred to the representative body they shall transfer any other property which was formerly appropriated to the use of any parochial benefice (including the money paid under this section by the representative body in respect of glebes) to the council of the county in which the ecclesiastical parish to the use of which the property was so appropriated is situate: Provided that if such ecclesiastical parish is situate in more than one county the property shall be transferred to such one or more of those councils or be divided between them as the Welsh Commissioners may think fit;

(e)they shall transfer all other property vested in them to the University of Wales.

(2)Save as otherwise provided by this Act, all property transferred under this section shall be held subject to all existing public and private rights with respect thereto, and all tenancies, charges, and incumbrances which may at the date of transfer be subsisting therein, and in the case of all such property, except tithe rentcharge transferred to a county council, to the existing interests of all persons who at the passing of this Act hold ecclesiastical offices in the Church in Wales, and in the case of such tithe rentcharge to the obligation to make such provision as is herein-after mentioned in lieu of such existing interests.

(3)F9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Border ParishesU.K.

9 Provisions as to border parishes.U.K.

(1)The Welsh Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, with respect to any ecclesiastical parish part only whereof is situate in Wales or Monmouthshire, by order determine, with reference to the general wishes of the parishioners, whether the parish is to be treated as being wholly within or wholly without Wales or Monmouthshire, and the parish shall for the purposes of this Act be treated accordingly . . . F10

(2)The Ecclesiastical Commissioners shall by order attach to an English diocese any ecclesiastical parish which at the passing of this Act is situate in a Welsh diocese, but not in Wales or Monmouthshire, and any such ecclesiastical parish which under this section is to be treated as being wholly without Wales or Monmouthshire, and may make any provisions which appear to them necessary or incidental to such attachment, including the transfer to the bishop of the diocese to which the parish is attached of the right of patronage in any case where such right was immediately before the passing of this Act vested in any cathedral or ecclesiastical corporation dissolved by this Act, but no such order shall come into effect until the date of disestablishment.

(3)Any ecclesiastical parish which is at the passing of this Act situate wholly in Wales or Monmouthshire, or is for the purposes of this Act to be treated as so situate, and forms part of an English diocese, shall, as from the date of disestablishment, cease to form part of that diocese, and shall be attached to such Welsh diocese as may be determined in manner provided by the constitution and regulations of the Church in Wales.

(4)Save as by this section provided, nothing in this Act shall affect any English diocese.