£2.5M pad fit for a bishop

From the archive, first published Friday 20th Jan 2006.

The Church of England is coming under fire over plans to buy a £2.5m house for the next Bishop of Oxford.

News that it is to purchase Pullens End, in Headington, has clashed with an emergency nationwide appeal for £60m to save crumbling churches.

It has opened the Church up to charges of insensitivity at a time when it is demanding higher grants to avoid "a spate of church closures" -- and Oxford is facing a worsening housing crisis.

Pullens End was recently advertised in our sister paper The Oxford Times as "the most magical country house that you could ever hope to find in the city of Oxford," with offers of £2.5m invited.

But Church spokesman Steve Jenkins was quick to point out that the money would not be coming from local churchgoers.

He said: "It will come from national funds, income from historic resources of the Church, and not from money people give in their parish churches."

Mr Jenkins said the Church had been left with little choice but to enter the property market.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, is to retire in the summer.

His home in Linton Road, North Oxford, is leased from Wolfson College, but the lease expires in four years' time.

Mr Jenkins said it was considered better to find a new property for Bishop Richard's successor to move into from the start of his ministry.

He added: "We have been looking for a property for some time. It has to be of a certain size to provide living accommodation for the bishop and his family and to meet the hospitality needs of the bishop. "It has to be comfortable for the large number of clergy and other people who will go there for various meetings. And of course it is also an investment for the Church."

Pullen's End has been home to the novelist Angela Huth and her husband, Oxford University historian James Howard-Johnston, for 26 years. It was grand enough for them to frequently entertain Princess Margaret, a friend.

John Tanner, the city council executive member for the environment, said of the purchase: "It's a matter for the Church of England."

But he added: "I do not think the Church should be spending lots of money on big houses when Oxford is experiencing such a housing crisis."

The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, this week spelled out the financial problems facing the Church in stark terms, saying some of England's oldest churches were in serious dis- repair.

He said: "If no extra money is forthcoming, we will see a spate of church closures and the loss to whole communities of buildings that cannot be sustained." Chris Walton, chairman of the Oxfordshire Historic Churches' Trust which raises £200,000 a year for local churches, said the seriousness of the situation was reflected in Oxfordshire, with a number of churches with quite severe problems.

He said news of the new Bishop's house would cause "raised eyebrows", but added: "It has to be recognised that it is not just about accommodation. A bishop's house must provide offices."

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