Council for the Care of
Churches
Dr Joseph Elders
Archaeology Officer
12 February 2016
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Dear Colleague
Church Archaeology and Human Remains Working Group: Call for Submissions
The Council for the Care of Churches, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission and English
Heritage have sponsored a Working Group on the above subject, to consider and provide
guidelines on the various aspects of this complex subject.
Please find enclosed the Terms of Reference and the membership of the Working Group
and its constituent specialist panels. I hope this will be of interest to you, and formally
invite your submission, which should be sent to myself at the address below by the end of
January 2003 if possible.
If there is anything further you wish to know or any other way we might be able to assist,
please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours sincerely
DR JOSEPH ELDERS
ARCHAEOLOGY OFFICER
Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3NZ
Direct Line: +44(020) 78981875 Switchboard: +44(020) 7898 1000 Fax: +44(020) 7898 1881
Email: joseph.elders@c-of-e.org.uk DX: 2305 Victoria - 1,
The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England is a registered charity
Council for the Care of Churches
Cathedrals Fabric Commission
English Heritage
CHURCH ARCHAEOLOGY AND HUMAN REMAINS WORKING GROUP
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The terms of reference for the Working Group have been agreed by CCC, CFCE and EH
as follows.
The Working Group is invited to consider the issues below and to report back within a
year with a draft Report. The Report will be considered by the sponsors before
finalisation, and may then be subject to a six-month consultation period. The Report
should address the following issues:–
1.
To consider what are the issues, arising from the discovery, excavation or other
uncovering of human remains, that are currently faced in practice by:–
(a) those responsible for the management of Church of England
churchyards and burial grounds1, and
(b) archaeologists.
2.
To consider what are the constraints upon the action of those responsible for the
management of churchyards and upon archaeologists in dealing with these issues,
including:–
(a) legal constraints, both secular and ecclesiastical,
(b) ethical and theological constraints,
(c) practical constraints, including those of finance and resources.
3.
To produce a brief summary of the legal position relating to the custody and
disturbance of human remains, under both secular and ecclesiastical law, including
an identification of issues on which the law appears to be unclear.
4.
Taking account of: (i) the above constraints (but not excluding recommendations
that might be achieved if modest or reasonable changes to the constraints could be
brought about); (ii) the work being done by the Churches Funerals Group and by
1
This refers essentially to churchyards and burial grounds currently under the Faculty Jurisdiction or the
jurisdiction of a Cathedral or other Peculiar of the Church of England. However, the Working Group will
also need to take account, to a greater or lesser degree in relation to ethical, scientific and archaeological
issues, of churchyards and burial grounds which have been under the jurisdiction of the Church of England
at some time since the Church’s first establishment in the 7 th century, though these may no longer be under
the current ecclesiastical jurisdiction for legal or other reasons.
the DCMS Working Group on Human Remains; and (iii) the sensitivities of other
denominations and religious organisations, to bring forward recommendations
on:–
(a) the principles that should underlie the treatment accorded to human
remains in relation to (i) the continuing use or otherwise of churchyards
for burials where the churchyard is already “full” (including the re-use
of burial grounds, the use of burial grounds for new-born infants, and
the re-opening of closed burial grounds); and (ii) the siting of new
buildings in churchyards to develop the worship and mission of the
church;
(b) the ethical and religious standards that should apply to the disturbance
(for whatever purpose) of human remains that have received a Christian
burial in a churchyard or burial ground;
(c) issues of pastoral care relating to the treatment of disturbed human
remains;
(d) the criteria that should apply to assessing the scientific and cultural
research potential and importance for study of human remains that are
to be disturbed;
(e) the principles that should be followed in the archaeological mitigation
of proposals that involve the disturbance of human remains
(f) the criteria for assessing when (i) the reburial of human remains or (ii)
their retention for future study should be undertaken following their
disturbance;
(g) the practicalities of storing human remains, retained for study, in
circumstances that respect both their scientific interest and their
Christian status;
(h) what procedures or structures, if any, might be put in place in future to
provide guidance and advice in particular cases in relation to the above
issues;
(i) what publications, in what media, and addressed to what audiences,
might now be helpful for providing general guidance in relation to the
above issues;
(j) the press, TV and radio handling of the above issues.
Council for the Care of Churches
Cathedrals Fabric Commission
English Heritage
CHURCH ARCHAEOLOGY AND HUMAN REMAINS WORKING GROUP
MEMBERSHIP OF GROUP AND PANELS
 Joseph Elders (CCC), joint Group convenor and on all panels
 Simon Mays (EH), joint Group convenor and on all panels
Ethics and Theology Panel
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Archdeacon Tim Ellis, convenor
Dean of Rochester
Maurice Davies, Museums Association and DCMS Human Remains Working Group
Andrew Lane, Southwark DAC
Margaret Cox, Bournemouth University
Jude Webster CCC, Secretary (minutes)
Legal Panel
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David Baker, Diocesan Archaeological Adviser, ADCA, CBA, convenor
Robert Clifford, HO Coroners Office
Julian Litten, Church Monuments Society
Alison Taylor, Institute of Field Archaeologists
Jonathan Goodchild, CCC
David Turner QC, Chancellor of Chester Diocese
Alexandra Nickell, CFCE, Secretary (minutes)
Science and Technical Panel
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Sebastian Payne, EH, convenor
Margaret Cox, Bournemouth University
Louise Humphreys, Natural History Museum
Philip Dixon, Cathedral Archaeologist
Julian Litten, Church Monuments Society
Jane Siddel, EH London Region Science Adviser
Barney Sloane, University of Reading
EH Secretary (minutes)