Church altar cannot be altered, court rules

A ROW has broken out at one of Britain’s “largest and grandest” churches over plans for the altar space to double up as a wardrobe to save room.

Now the Church of England has ruled that the plan is “unseemly against the Lord”, after its investigators found there was lots of space for storing vestments at St Mary Redcliffe, in Bristol.

The 12th-century, Grade I listed church – described by Elizabeth I as “the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England”. However, it has been at the centre of a dispute after the Church of England’s consistory court was called in to rule on the plan to convert the altar into a wardrobe.

The diocesan advisory committee had refused to support the idea, saying it did not appear “to treat the altar with appropriate respect”, and it has been backed by the Rev Justin Gau, the Chancellor of the Diocese of Bristol and a consistory court judge.

In rejecting a petition for permission to carry out the scheme he quoted church law which states that the altar, as “the table of the Lord”, shall be “kept in a sufficient and seemly manner”.

He said the proposed conversion would breach this stipulation in “one of the largest and grandest parish churches in the country”.

The Rev Gau said he was told the plan was put forward because floor space at St Mary’s is “tight”, but he had visited the church and found many areas where a chest for storage of vestments could be sited.

In view of the plan’s unseemly nature, and the available space, he refused the petition.