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Couple to learn church bill fate Couple must pay £200k church bill
(about 10 hours later)
A couple may face a six-figure repair bill on a Warwickshire church which falls within land they inherited after the death of an elderly relative. A couple have been ordered to pay more than £200,000 for repairs to a church, which falls within land they inherited after the death of an elderly relative.
A High Court judge will decide how much Andrew and Gail Wallbank, of Plasnewydd, Carno, should pay. A High Court judge said sheep farmers Andrew and Gail Wallbank, of Carno, Powys, must pay £186,969, plus VAT.
A 2003 ruling upheld a claim against them because the inherited Warwickshire farmland is on rectorial property and they are deemed "lay rectors" It was the climax of a seven year legal fight, with the couple considered "lay rectors" on the Warwickshire farmland.
Law Lords said it was one of the more arcane areas of property law. The £95,000 cost to renovate St John the Baptist, Aston Cantlow, has more than doubled since the case began.
But they ruled that the couple were responsible for church overheads. William Shakespeare's parents, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, are believed to have married in 1557 in the church, part of which dates from the 13th Century.
Mr Justice Lewison, sitting at the High Court in London, will decide how much the couple will have to pay towards repairs to the chancel in Aston Cantlow in Warwickshire. A series of legal challenges led to the House of Lords in June 2003 over the work, commissioned by the parish council of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley.
Andrew and Gail Wallbank inherited the farm from her mother The church in Warwickshire where the Wallbanks are 'lay rectors'
Lord Nicholls said at the time of the original ruling: "The anachronistic, even capricious nature of this ancient liability was recognised some years ago by the Law Commission. Mr and Mrs Wallbank, aged 66 and 59, are liable for the costs under the 1932 Chancel Repairs Act.
"It said this relic of the past is no longer acceptable and the need for reform has not lessened with the passage of time." In May 2002, the Wallbanks thought they had won their battle. The Wallbanks own Glebe Farm, Aston Cantlow near Stratford-upon-Avon, which includes a field called Clanacre.
The Court of Appeal had overturned a High Court ruling that the couple had to pay the £96,000 bill to repair the church. This is classified as rectoral property and makes the couple "lay rectors" of the parish.
However, that ruling was then overturned by the Law Lords. After the latest hearing, Mrs Wallbank said: "The Church of England has made it inevitable that we will have to sell Clanacre Farm. The law is in a mess."
The Warwickshire farm was left to the Wallbanks on the death of Mrs Wallbank's father and the couple may also face hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal bills. She also accused the church of "not living by its teaching" and of hiding behind an "archaic law".
Mr Wallbank said they were caught in a vicious circle because no one would buy the farm with the church repair liability attached to it.
But to get rid of the liability they would have to pay money up front for repair costs that might arise in the distant future.
At the High Court hearing in London on Monday, to assess the extent of the couple's liability, Mr Justice Lewison reached the final figure on some, but not all items in the repair schedule.
Vicar of St John the Baptist, Father David Addley, said he was pleased the issue had been resolved.
"It's been hanging over us all this time. I'm pleased it's at an end."
He added that the church had a number of structural problems that needed attention.
"The roof above the chancel is quite heavy and the walls are beginning to bulge and this has implications for things like the windows."