Parson's freehold
The parson's freehold refers to a system within the Church of England in which the rector or vicar of a parish holds title to benefice property, such as the church, churchyard or parsonage, the ownership passing to his successor. This system is to be phased out, under the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure.
Description
The parson's freehold is a type of
Development
- Death;
- Resignation;
- Cessation due to appointment to an incompatible position;
- Deprivation through ecclesiastical courts on the grounds of bastardy or moral fault;
- Conviction of simony; or
- Failure to read services according to the Book of Common Prayer and sentence of deprivation.
Plural occupancy was gradually restricted due to abuses by non-resident officeholders delegating priestly duties to assistants.
The difficulty of removing the beneficiary of such a freehold was a source of continued conflict. In practice only "open and notorious evil living" sufficed to remove an incumbent unwillingly. Conflict over tithes in particular led to the fixing of tithes under the
Abolition
On February 15, 2005, the
The Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009 (No. 1), giving effect to these changes, is now in force.
Notes
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2018) ) |
References
- Bowlby, Rt. Revd. Ronald. 'The Parson's Freehold and Clergy Discipline'. 3 Ecclesiastical Law Journal 30 (1993–95);
- Bursell, Rupert. 'The Parson's Freehold'. 2 Ecclesiastical Law Journal 259 (1990–92);
- Phillimore, "Ecclesiastical Law";
- Parson & Parish, passim, the journal of the English Clergy Association.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 725–726.
- Fox, A. W.; Kelsey, Jeff. "The Rectory, Glebe and Tithes". A History of Cranham, Essex, England. Retrieved 2018-09-13.