The churchyard in which the church sits is closed to new burials. It remains in the ownership of the church, but maintenance responsibility was passed to South Staffordshire District Council in 2017. (The churchyard extension on the opposite side of Church Hill is still maintained by the church). The Council surveyed the churchyard walls in 2018 and concluded that they were unsafe, erecting safety fencing along the section of wall abutting the public highway. In 2022 the Council proposed to fund the repair works with a “Special Expense” levy on the Parish Council’s Council Tax precept. This proposal was, understandably, not popular with the residents of Kinver and has now been abandoned. The Council has instead decided to fund the works as part of their 2026/27 capital budget for the maintenance of all the closed churchyards for which they are responsible.
St Peter’s and the Council are now working together to secure permission from the Diocese of Lichfield to undertake this work. St Peter’s Church is a Grade 1 Listed Building and the churchyard walls form an important part of its historic setting. The proposals will therefore need to be sensitive, with repair and reuse of historic materials wherever possible, if they are to be agreed by the Diocese.
In some sections where the walls have collapsed, complete reconstruction will be required. In the winter of 2024/25, heavy rain and strong winds rocked the abutting lime trees causing a section of the north wall towards the east end to collapse into the adjacent field. In the summer of 2025, a section of the low south wall abutting the top church yard park started bulging out and had to be dismantled by the Council. These collapses underline the urgency of taking action now.
This will be a significant engineering project estimated to take about twelve months. Significant disruption to the life of the church is inevitable, including access restrictions from time to time to parts of the churchyard and to Church Hill by the Lychgate. The Council’s contractors will need to establish a site compound in the churchyard. The work is however essential, for reasons of public safety and heritage concern. It will be undertaken under proper supervision by the Council’s conservation officer and with an archaeological watching brief, all at no direct cost to the church. St Peter’s will work closely with the Council’s contractors to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum. This is essential work and doing nothing is not an option.
St Peter’s Church Kinver
April 2026
Statement from St Peter’s Parochial Church Council (PCC)
St Peter’s is the parish church for everyone living in the village. We work hard to extend our welcome to all and to maintain our wonderful Grade 1 listed building for services, concerts, meetings, education, and quiet reflection. Our churchyard is closed to new burials and its main use now is as open space for the many visitors who come every day to enjoy its peace, beauty and views of the surrounding countryside.
In 2017 we handed maintenance responsibility to South Staffordshire District Council (SSDC) in accordance with the 1972 Local Government Act so they could keep it safe for public enjoyment. As part of that maintenance responsibility the District Council has independently let a contract for the repair of the entirety of the Churchyard boundary wall. While we support the District Council's aim of maintaining public safety we have serious concerns about the scale and cost of the work proposed. We will continue to work with the District Council to try and ensure that any work undertaken is appropriate and does not place an unnecessary financial burden on the people of Kinver.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Council responsible and not the Church?
The responsibility of District Councils to maintain closed churchyards has been common practice in its current form for half a century. This reflects the fact that closed Churchyards are open green spaces belonging to the whole community and keeps them from being restricted just to churchgoers. It is a common and expected part of the responsibility of District Councils and is nothing new or unusual.
Did the wall need repairing before St Peter’s Church handed over responsibility?
St Peter’s Church is required to have our highly experienced church architect undertake a Quinquennial Inspection (QI) which is a detailed survey of the entire church and churchyard every 5 years identifying areas for maintenance and repair. In the QI surveys in 2013 and 2018, either side of the handover of maintenance responsibility, no structural issues were identified with any of the boundary walls. The only related items were the removal of some ivy and an ash tree which were done by SSDC in 2018. St Peter’s PCC does not believe that we handed over responsibility to SSDC with the walls in a state of disrepair.
[Read the 2018 Quinquennial Inspection Report Here]
[Read a draft of the original application to transfer maintenance responsibility]
[Read some initial correspondence from the time of the handover with SSDC with their areas of concern]
Has the Parochial Church Council refused to contribute financially?
Although the responsibility for maintaining the Churchyard lies with the District Council, during this calendar year St Peter's Church has done approximately £24k of improvement work to the Churchyard, including some of the wall. This was funded by the Church, with support from local charities and legacy donations, and we do this gladly in order to ease the financial burden on our parishioners. On top of that there are countless volunteer hours put in by members of the Church and community who support the SSDC Streetscene team in maintaining the Churchyard to an award winning standard.
The Church of England has billions of pounds, why doesn’t it pay?
The funds held by the various central Church of England bodies may be considerable, however the majority of the income from this goes towards clergy pensions, with the remainder supporting dioceses, cathedrals, and parishes in focussed ways, especially in areas of deprivation. With some 16,000 historic Church buildings, most of them listed, it would be impossible for the Church of England as a whole to fund repairs like these, and that is just not how the Church of England works.
What is the Church doing to resolve this situation
We are continuing to engage with SSDC on this issue to try and ensure that any work undertaken is necessary and appropriate. Despite repeated requests we have yet to see the report which said the walls were dangerous, nor have we seen the tender specification that determined the shape of the bids invited. It must also be stressed that our architect’s last Quinquennial Inspection in 2018 did not recommend any structural works be done to the boundary walls and St Peter’s Church has not requested any such work.
[Read SSDC's letter to residents, 9th November 2022]
[Read St Peter's reply, 27th November 2022]
We will continue to advocate on behalf of the residents of Kinver and are grateful to all those who are engaging with the District Council. If you would like to discuss this further I run a Vestry Hour at St Peter’s Church from 6-7pm every Monday where I am available to book weddings and christenings, or to discuss any matters of concern to the Church or community. Rev’d Rich.
[Download this Statement and FAQ as a pdf for printing / sharing]
Bonus Feature: Who owns the Churchyard Wall at St Peter's?
Rev'd Rich has written an article for the January Parish Magazine attempting to answer that question!
[Download article here]