Church repairs row over as farm sold off
An inherited farm at the centre of a legal tangle that left a Powys couple with a debt of more than £200,000 for repairs to a historic church more than 100 miles away, has been sold.
The sale at auction yesterday of Glebe Farm, Aston Cantlow, in Warwickshire, for £850,000 means sheep farmer Andrew Wallbank and his wife Gail, of Plas Newydd, Carno, near Newtown, can at last get free of the nightmare inheritance that has dogged them for more than 20 years.
The trouble started when the couple inherited the farm from Mrs Wallbank's father.
The property came complete with an obscure "rectorial property" condition which made the couple lay rectors of the parish, responsible for the church's repair under medieval law and the Chancel Repairs Act of 1932.
Mr and Mrs Wallbank, who are both in their 60s, had argued during a nine-year legal battle that they were not responsible for repairs to the church because the alleged responsibility contravened the European Convention on Human Rights.
But in 2007, a High Court judge ruled the couple should pay more than £200,000 for repairs to St John the Baptist Church.
Since then Mr and Mrs Wallbank have been trying to get the Church of England to agree to release them, and free the property, from the ancient liability so the farm could be sold on the open market.
Finally, last week, agreement was reached and for a fee of £37,000 the property will be freed from its rectorial liability. However, the agreement was only signed 15 minutes before last night's auction.
But, he added, from the sale of the farm, they would have to pay £230,000 plus VAT for the church repairs as well as legal fees of around £250,000.
Mr Wallbank said the whole situation had been very distressing.
"It is a great relief that we have a resolution but I feel we have been treated very, very harshly."
Mrs Wallbank also criticised the church authorities. She said: "It's completely against Christian principles."
The couple, who were married at St John the Baptist Church, say they still have fond memories of Aston Cantlow despite all the problems.
"More people there have been for us than against us and we are also very fortunate we have a nice home here but I shudder to think what it would have been like if the farm at Aston Cantlow had been our only home," said Mr Wallbank.
