Saltford Parish Council is responsible for the safety maintenance of the walls at St Mary’s Churchyard, including the costs of any repairs needed. St Mary’s Church dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period and has been the focus of community gatherings for over 1000 years. More information can be found on SPC’s History of Saltford page under ‘Anglo-Saxon and Norman Saltford’.
Earlier this year a section of churchyard wall began to be a concern as it was showing signs of ‘giving’. Unfortunately, the wall began to collapse; its stability may have been impacted by the unusually prolonged period of hot and dry summer weather experienced this year. As the condition of the churchyard walls had previously been deemed as sound, the impact of the unusually hot weather in 2022 on the wall was unexpected.
As it was, a significant repair was required and with reasonable urgency to prevent further deterioration of the wall, possible associated safety issues and a potential increase in costs. Several quotes were sought and a contractor appointed who carried out wall repairs in November 2022.
To achieve the work required at St Mary’s Churchyard, the Parish Council agreed to exceed its ‘Special Churchyard Maintenance Projects’ budget of £1500, with the wall works at a cost of £6,250 paid for mostly from SPC’s reserves. Please see below for ‘Why is Saltford Parish Council responsible for the churchyard walls?’, which details why the Parish Council must pay for churchyard wall maintenance and repairs.
Due to the cost of this on the Parish Council’s 22/23 budget and level of reserves, SPC will need to consider this spend and look to rebuild its reserves when setting its precept in the future.
Of the Churchyard repairs and maintenance works required to date, this most pressing section of wall was successfully repaired in November 2022.
Please find before, during and after images of the recent works below.
Why is Saltford Parish Council responsible for the churchyard walls?
Saltford Parish Council is responsible for safety management at St Mary’s Churchyard, Saltford.
St Mary’s Church has a ‘closed churchyard’, meaning it has a churchyard belonging to a parish church of the Church of England which has been formally closed by an Order in Council made by the Privy Council. Orders are usually made when a churchyard becomes full and it becomes necessary to close a churchyard for burials (under section 1 of the Burial Act 1853).
In the case of St Mary’s churchyard in Saltford, an Order was sought by St Mary’s parochial church council (PCC) from the Ministry of Justice. This was agreed and the Order was sealed in December 1991.
Following St Mary’s Churchyard becoming a ‘closed churchyard’, St Mary’s Church PCC at by virtue of section 215(2) of the 1972 Local Government Act served a written request to Saltford Parish Council to take over the maintenance of the churchyard. The Parish Council agreed to this (the only other option being to ask B&NES Council within three months to take over the maintenance, with B&NES Council then invoicing Saltford Parish Council for all maintenance and repair costs).
Because of this, although the churchyard was (and is today) still owned by the Church of England, maintenance of the churchyard legally became the responsibility of Saltford Parish Council. The legal process in 1991/92 meant that Saltford Parish Council became permanently responsible for keeping the churchyard in decent order and its walls and fences in good repair, including funding the costs of these works. This legal process also means that Saltford Parish Council cannot demand that the Church of England or B&NES Council pay for any works required.
Saltford Parish Council continues to this day to use the precept to pay for the maintenance requirements of St Mary’s Churchyard (the majority of SPC’s income is raised through the precept, which is paid by all residents as detailed in their Council Tax bill from B&NES Council, the billing authority for Saltford).
The cost of maintenance of St Mary’s Churchyard is SPC’s second largest annual spend (after Parish Council staff costs). Grounds maintenance contracts and spend for works on trees and walls are resolved at public Full Council meetings. Members of the public are welcome to attend and speak on any agenda item at Full Council meetings.
In terms of spend, regular payments are made for monthly or twice monthly (dependent on the season) grounds maintenance visits by a contractor. The specification for grounds maintenance works is agreed by the Council each January. Contractors are approached for quotes based on the specification, with a contractor appointed for a 12 month period following discussion of quotes received at a Full Council meeting.
In addition to monthly grounds maintenance, every three years or when required SPC pays for reports on the churchyard trees and appoints contractors to carry out any tree works identified to ensure they are safe and kept healthy. Similarly, SPC pays for structural surveys of the churchyard walls and agrees wall repairs or maintenance works to be carried out by a contractor. As well as works taking place following expert reports, trees and walls maintenance also takes place between reports being received as-and-when required. SPC Staff and Councillors monitor safety maintenance at the churchyard, and reports are shared at full council meetings.
To note, monuments – such as headstones, graves etc – are privately owned and therefore any maintenance or repairs required are not the responsibility of Saltford Parish Council.
As extensive wall repairs had taken place in the relatively recent past, Saltford Parish Council had budgeted anticipating minor wall repairs being required in 2022. For instance, re-pointing, rather than rebuilding. Unfortunately the weather conditions experienced in 2022 is thought to have caused an unusually prolonged dry period, which caused movement under a section of wall. Due to this significant works were required to rebuild the wall, for Health and Safety reasons, to prevent further deterioration (plus any associated costs to rectify), and to meet the Parish Council’s obligation by law to keep the churchyard walls in good repair.
More information about what Saltford Parish Council is responsible for in the village can be found on SPC’s Council Responsibilities page.