ONLY - complete surviving Consistory Court in England - Chester, Cheshire, England, UK. - Superlatives on Waymarking.com

"A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of the 19th century consistory courts have lost much of their subject-matter jurisdiction. Each diocese in the Church of England has a consistory court (called in the Diocese of Canterbury the Commissary Court)." Source: (visit link)

Until the nineteenth century the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts covered the moral and religious conduct of clergy and laity, the maintenance of the fabric and furniture of church buildings, and matters relating to tithe, probate and matrimony.

The Chester Consistory Court was established in 1541 and met in a room, which still survives, in the south-west corner of the cathedral. The court is presided over by the Chancellor and its main area of jurisdiction today is in the settling of faculty disputes and matters of clergy discipline.

According to information given at the following links; (visit link) (visit link) this is the only complete example of an old church Consistory Court to survive in England.
"In 1636, the Bishop's, or Consistory, Court was moved from the Lady Chapel into the unfinished south-west tower of the Cathedral, where its heavy oak furnishings- an enclosure with a bench, surrounding a large table, may still be inspected by visitors today, the only complete example to survive in all of England.
Consistory courts dealt with all manner of legal issues affecting the church, some of a life and death seriousness but many more trivial- disputes about alterations to church buildings and the like. The last case heard at Chester was in the 1930s and concerned a priest who had attempted suicide."

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Type of documentation of superlative status: Website - https://www.chesterwalls.info/cathedral2.html Location of coordinates: Entrance to the Cathedral Web Site: Not listed

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