(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, it shall be lawful for the person in whom any land granted under the M1Gifts for Churches Act 1803, the M2Gifts for Churches Act 1811 or the M3Consecration of Churchyards Act 1867 is vested to exercise thereover any of the powers exercisable by virtue of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (1) of section seventeen of the M4New Parishes Measure 1943 over land acquired by the Commissioners or the Church Building Commissioners:
Provided that the said powers shall not be exercisable without the consent of the bishop, and the bishop shall not give his consent unless he is satisfied that the land, or the part of the land concerned, has not at any time been used, and is not likely to be used, for the purpose for which it was granted.
(2)Where any land has been held by virtue of a grant by way of gift under the said Acts for less than twenty years, the person in whom the land is vested shall, before exercising any of the powers conferred on him by the last foregoing subsection offer to reconvey it to the grantor without consideration:
Provided that if the grantor refuses the offer or does not accept it within six weeks after it is made, or if a statutory declaration is made by the bishop that the grantor cannot be found, the land may be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(3)Where any land is sold under this section the proceeds of the sale shall be [F1paid to the parsonages board or (if designated as such under section 1(1) of the Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure 1972) the diocesan board of finance (hereinafter in this Measure referred to as “the board”) of the diocese concerned and shall be applied by it] to such purposes, being purposes for the benefit of the benefice of the ecclesiastical district in which the land is situate or charitable purposes relating to that district, as may be agreed [F2between the board]and the bishop after consultation with the person by whom the land was sold.
(4)Land granted under the M5Consecration of Churchyards Act 1867 may be sold under this section notwithstanding the reservation by the grantor of a right of burial under section nine of that Act.
(5)Nothing in this section shall authorise the sale or disposal of any consecrated land or affect the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court.
[F3(6)During a vacancy in a benefice any powers under this section which, but for the vacancy, would have been exercisable by the incumbent shall be exercisable by the bishop.]
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 7(3) substituted (1.1.2001) by 2000 Measure No. 1, s. 5, Sch. 3 para. 2; Instrument dated (14.12.2000) made by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York
F2Words in s. 7(3) substituted (1.1.2001) by 2000 Measure No. 1, s. 5, Sch. 3 para. 2; Instrument dated 14.12.2000 made by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York
F3S. 7(6) added by Church of England (Legal Aid and Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1988 (No. 1, SIF 21:1), s. 9
Marginal Citations