Parish Support

The Act provides that before a marriage can take place in a church, one of the following legal requirements must be fulfilled:

  • The calling of Banns; or
  • The issue of a Common Licence by the Bishop of the Diocese (obtained from the Diocesan Registrar); or
  • The issue of a Special Licence by the Archbishop (obtained from The Faculty Office in London); or
  • The issue of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate (obtained from a Civil Register Office).

The following notes summarise the law from 1 October 2008. The law was updated at that time by the “Church of England Marriage Measure 2008”, and law relating to the registration of marriages has been updated with effect from 4th May 2021.  “The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022” has also amended Section 2 the Marriage Act 1949 law to raise the minimum age for legal marriage, or civil partnership, from 16 to 18 years.

Alongside the wedding preparations, and consideration of any legal issues, it is also important for any couple intending to marry to spend time talking through their expectations of marriage. However much you think you have in common, you are still two separate individuals with different backgrounds, personalities, experiences, hopes and fears. The minister who is taking your service will usually spend some time with you talking through these issues, and this can be very worthwhile.  Some churches offer marriage preparation, sometimes as part of a group with other couples. This gives you an opportunity to think through possible areas of difficulty and how you will handle them as a couple.

The usual method of giving notice of a proposed wedding is for Banns to be called.

This means that the minister at the church in the parish or parishes where the parties reside announces their intention to get married on the proposed wedding date on three Sundays prior to the wedding. This gives an opportunity for anyone who might know of a reason why they should not get married to say so.

Banns must be called in the couple’s parish church and also called in the church where the wedding is proposed to take place (if different):

The wedding can usually take place only in the church of a parish where one of the parties has a ‘qualifying connection’, as described in the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008. Banns will usually be called in the church where the wedding is to take place, but there are exceptions in the cases of parishes where there is no parish church, or where there is a parish church which does not have a service every Sunday, or the parish church is temporarily closed for repairs. In any such case the Bishop can grant permission for banns or marriage within any church in the Benefice.

For information about the services at which Banns may be called, please refer to a note entitled Legal Changes to the Procedure for Publishing Banns of Marriage published in November 2012. The changes referred to in the note came into effect on 19 December 2012, and included two principal points:

  1. There is statutory authority for the use of the form of words for the publication of banns contained in “Common Worship: Pastoral Services”(as an optional alternative to the form of words contained in the Book of Common Prayer)
  2. Banns must be published on three Sundays at the ‘principal service’ (rather than as at present at ‘morning service’) and, as an option, they may additionally be published at any other service on those three Sundays.

These changes were introduced by the Church of England Marriage (Amendment) Measure 2012.

An application for the calling of banns must be made to the minister of each parish where banns are to be called. Banns must be called on three Sundays (not necessarily consecutive Sundays) prior to the wedding and a certificate of publication must be obtained.

A marriage after the calling of banns must be solemnized within three months of the last occasion on which banns were called.

Note that since 2 March 2015, banns may not be published for a marriage where one or both of the intended parties are nationals of a country outside the European Economic Area and they will need to apply for a Common Licence instead.

A Common Licence is a Bishop’s permission for a marriage to take place in a particular church.

The issue of a Common Licence is at the discretion of the Diocesan Bishop. In order to qualify for the issue of a Common Licence, either (1) one of the parties to the proposed marriage must have lived in the parish where the marriage is to take place for at least 15 days immediately preceding the date when the application for the Common Licence is made, or else must be on the church electoral roll or, (2) one of the parties must be able to show a ‘qualifying connection’ with the church, as defined in the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008.

An application for a Common Licence should not be made until the three month period prior to the proposed wedding date. The Licence will be valid for a maximum of three months (like a certificate that banns have been published) so if the Licence is issued too early it will expire before the proposed wedding date.

An application for a Common Licence may be made by prior appointment at the office of the Diocesan Registrar. However, for those living at some distance from the Diocesan Registry, an application may be made instead to one of a number of clergy around the Diocese who have been appointed Surrogates for receiving marriage licence applications. The current Surrogates available to recieve an application for a Common Licence are the following:

  • The Revd Canon Julie Boyd, Aylsham
  • The Revd Ben Bradshaw, Horning
  • The Revd Mark Capron, Dersingham
  • The Revd Paul Cubitt, Dereham
  • The Revd Christian Heycocks, Sheringham
  • The Revd Matthew Jackson, Attleborough
  • The Revd Tracy Jessop, Fakenham
  • The Revd Sharon Lord, Pakefield
  • The Revd Carl Melville, Pulham Market
  • The Revd Dr Patrick Richmond, Norwich
  • The Revd David Smith, Raveningham & Geldeston
  • The Revd Canon Sally Theakston, Gressenhall/Norwich
  • The Revd Stephen Thorp, Necton

    The contact details of the clergy listed above can be accessed by request via email at hello@dioceseofnorwich.org or phone by calling 01603 880853.

    Applicants for a Common Licence will be required to produce evidence of their nationality, identity and address (see details below). The Legal Advisory Commission recommends that where one of the parties to a proposed marriage is a foreign national, the marriage ought to be by licence (which involves the making of a sworn statement as to status), rather than by banns.  A foreign national will have to have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and both parties should provide the Registrar or Surrogate with the following:-

    • Evidence of identity and nationality (and settled or pre-settled status if applicable), such as an original passport or birth certificate showing the full name and date of birth of the party concerned.
    • Evidence of the their current address, such as an original utility bill, bank statement or other document showing the name and address of the party concerned, which is less than three months old.
    • Confirmation of the single status of the party concerned. Normally the applicant for a Common Licence will make a sworn statement that they and their intending spouse are not under any impediment which would prevent them from being married, and would swear to their current status, e.g. ‘single’, and this should be sufficient. In any case where there is any doubt on the part of the minister, additional evidence that the applicant is single may be requested (such as further ID documents showing the same name, or a letter from the party’s lawyer or priest).
    • Where a party has previously been married and divorced, the original Decree Absolute of divorce is required and the minister taking the marriage service will have to seek permission from the Bishop of Norwich to enable parties to remarry in church. See the section dealing with Marriage following Divorce.

    Where one of the parties has previously been married, the Bishop will wish to be satisfied that the questions set out in the Guidelines for Clergy on Marriages in Church following Divorce have been addressed before consenting to the issue of a Common Licence. This approval is normally sought by the parish priest, or minister officiating the wedding.  If this is required the applicants should allow time for this approval to be sought.  The Registrar can not issue the Common Licence without receiving the Bishop’s written permission.

    Where any document produced is in a foreign language, the party concerned would be required to provide a certified translation.

    The application fee payable for a Common Licence in the Diocese of Norwich for 2025 is £200, but is reviewed annually in January.

    IMPORTANT NOTE – IMMIGRATION ACT 2014

    MARRIAGE OF FOREIGN NATIONALS

    • With effect from 2 March 2015, foreign nationals from countries outside the European Economic Area are no longer able to marry in a Church of England ceremony after the publication of banns or under the authority of a Common Licence. Instead they need to apply either for a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate (this is the route which they should normally follow) or, where necessary (because they have no qualifying connection with the relevant parish church, or where they wish to marry in a building which is not licensed for marriages) a Special Licence from the Archbishop’s Faculty Office. The note at Immigration Act 2014 – Guidance Note gives more information about this. A Special Licence is only appropriate to authorize marriages according to the rites of the Church of England, and will be necessary where a couple does not have a legal right to be married in a particular parish church or where the building itself is not licensed for marriages, including school and college chapels, cathedrals, etc. A Special Licence is also necessary for Anglican marriages to take place in a hospital or hospice or at home, where there is urgent medical necessity and where no other preliminary is available. Otherwise the parties should proceed under the authority of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate.
    • Where both parties to an intended marriage are UK nationals, the marriage may proceed after the publication of banns or on the authority of a Common Licence, as at present, or on the authority of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate or, where necessary, a Special Licence.
    • Where one or both parties are nationals of other countries in the European Economic Area, the parties will need to apply for a Common Licence, or may proceed on the authority of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate or, where necessary, a Special Licence.
    • The position will remain unchanged for the time being after BREXIT, since the Immigration Act refers to countries in the European Economic Area rather than the European Union. Advance notice is likely to be given before any change in the law is introduced after BREXIT.

    If you have questions about the correct procedure, please contact the Diocesan Registrar, Stuart Jones (telephone 01603 756501, email stuart-jones@birketts.co.uk) for advice.

    Since 2002 it has been possible for people who have previously been married and divorced, and whose former spouse is still living, to marry within the Church of England. In November 2002, the House of Bishops issued Advice to Clergy concerning the procedure to be followed when one of the applicants for banns or a marriage licence is a divorced person with a former spouse still living. Whilst parishioners normally have the right to be married in the parish church of the parish where they live, a priest is entitled by law to refuse to remarry a divorced person in church whilst the former spouse is still living.

    When a couple apply for Banns or a Common Licence, if one of them is divorced with a former spouse still living, the minister who will officiate the wedding should interview the couple in accordance with the Advice to Clergy, and ask the couple to respond to the questions raised in the Marriage After Divorce document.

    In the Diocese of Norwich it is a requirement that the minister officiating the wedding seeks the permission of the Bishop of Norwich as to whether the marriage may proceed.

    The application for a Common Licence can be made while the permission is pending, but the Registrar can not issue the Licence until this has been received.

    Where neither party is baptised, the practice in the past has been that applications for a licence should be referred to the Bishop. The House of Bishops now supports the view that the lack of baptism of either or both parties should not in itself be a bar to the granting of a licence to enable a wedding to take place in church, and accordingly there is no longer a need to refer an application to the Bishop when neither party is baptised.

    The Archbishop of Canterbury has the right to grant a Special Licence for a marriage to take place at any convenient time or place in England or Wales.

    The issue of a Special Licence is discretionary.

    The most common circumstances where a Special Licence is required are where the parties wish to be married in a church or chapel of a parish where neither party has a ‘qualifying connection’ within the meaning of the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008. Alternatively the parties may wish to be married elsewhere than in a building which is already authorised for marriage according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, for example, a school or college chapel, or in a church building which is no longer in use for public worship.

    Enquiries about a Special Licence should be made to:

    The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT

    Tel: 0207 222 5381

    Email: faculty.office@1Thesanctuary.com).

    A Superintendent Registrar of a civil Register Office may issue a Certificate to permit a marriage to take place in an Anglican church.

    One of the parties must have the required seven days residence within the registration district and within the parish where the marriage is to take place before applying for the Certificate, or the church must be the usual place of worship of one or both of the parties. The Registrar enters the details of the parties in a book which is open to public inspection and also displays a notice at the Register Office for 28 days. If no impediments are shown within the period of 28 days, a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate can be issued. However, a clergyman is under no obligation to marry people who have chosen this preliminary, and in practice clergy will recommend banns or a Common Licence.

    However, note that where one or both of the parties to the intended marriage are from countries outside the European Economic Area, the marriage may, under the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014, only be celebrated in a Church of England ceremony on the authority of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate or a Special Licence issued by the Archbishop’s Faculty Office. These new provisions came into effect on 2 March 2015. Also, with effect from the same date, the notice of an intended marriage to be given at a civil Register Office before a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate can be issued has been extended from 15 days to 28 days.

    A Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate will normally be valid for 12 months from the date of issue, subject to some minor exceptions (see section 33 of the Marriage Act 1949)

    The aim of the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008 is to allow couples to be married by Banns or Common Licence, rather than by Special Licence, in a parish where they can show that one of them has a “qualifying connection”.

    A person has a qualifying connection with a parish if that person:

    • was baptised in the parish. (This does not apply where the baptism formed part of a combined service of baptism or confirmation); or
    • had his or her confirmation entered in a church register book of a church or chapel in the parish; or
    • has at any time had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months; or
    • has at any time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months; or
    • a parent of that person has at any time during that person’s lifetime:
    • had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months; or
    • habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months; or
    • a parent or grandparent of that person was married in the parish..

    The references to baptism, confirmation and marriage, and to attending public worship, are all confined to services according to the rites of the Church of England.

    The Measure came into force on 1st October 2008.

    The House of Bishops has issued some Guidance on the Measure, see also the Church of England web site.

    ANGLICAN MARRIAGE IN ENGLAND AND WALES – A Guide to the Law for Clergy Obtainable from The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT Tel: 0207-222-5381

    MARRIAGE IN CHURCH AFTER DIVORCE (GS1361) A discussion document commissioned by the House of Bishops. Church House Publishing. £5.00 ISBN 0 7151 3833 2. There is also advice available from the House of Bishops to Clergy at Advice to Clergy – Remarriage After Divorce

    GUIDE FOR THE CLERGY. The General Register Office has produced a very useful Guide for the Clergy, which will be of particular help to clergy dealing with marriage registers, but it also contains a good outline of the general law relating to marriages, as well as baptisms and burials. The General Register Office also publishes an occasional newsletter with useful information about registration of marriages. A link to this newsletter is available at GRO Clergy Newsletter

    CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS IN RELIGIOUS PREMISES – A helpful note for Clergy clarifying the current position on the use of Church of England premises in connection with Civil Partnerships is available at Civil Partnerships in Religious Premises

    THE MARRIAGE BOOK by Nicky and Sila Lee – The Marriage Book – Published by Alpha (4th ed. 2009), price £7.99, provides some excellent insights into how a healthy marriage works – Buy

    General Questions

    Yes. If you wish to be married according to the rites of the Church of England somewhere other than in a parish church or other building licensed for public worship, you will need to obtain a Special Licence from the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Otherwise, you may be married at a registered building under the authority of a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate, although such a marriage could not be carried out according to the rites of the Church of England.

    Yes, unless either (a) one of the parties is divorced and the former spouse is still living, or (b) the marriage is prohibited by law owing to the relationship of the parties, or (c) one of the parties is a minor and the appropriate consent or consents have not been given.

    Yes, if the Faculty Office is prepared to grant a Special Licence.

    The law has changed with the coming into force on 1st October 2008 of the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008. This measure allows a couple to be married by banns or by common licence in the church of a parish where a parent of either party to the proposed marriage has resided at any time for a period of not less of 6 months during the life time of the party proposing to be married.

    A Special Licence can authorise a marriage at any time of day or night, but in the case of marriage in a Church of England church by banns, common licence or Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate, the marriage must take place between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

    Section 4 of the Marriage Act 1949 restricted the hours when marriages may be solemnized to between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm. Section 114 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which came into force on 1 October 2012, has repealed section 4 of the 1949 Act thereby removing that statutory restriction. It has also repealed the criminal offence of solemnizing a marriage outside the permitted hours contained in section 75(1)(a) of the 1949 Act.

    The repeal of section 4 of the Marriage Act 1949 does not, however, change the hours between which a marriage may lawfully be solemnized in the Church of England. That is because Canon B 35.3 of the Canons of the Church of England provides, “A marriage may not be solemnized at any unseasonable hours but only between the hours of eight in the forenoon and six in the afternoon.” The restriction contained in the Canon remains in force notwithstanding the repeal of section 4 of the 1949 Act. The Canons are legally binding on the clergy, so marriages may only take place in a Church of England church between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

    The fee payable for a Special Licence (issued by the Faculty Office in Westminster on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury) was £315.00 from 1 April 2017. Once the application has been approved, one of the parties will have to swear an affidavit (a formal statement) to confirm the information given. This can be done in front of an Anglican minister (to whom a fee of £5.00 will be payable) near to where the parties to the proposed marriage reside, or at the Faculty Office (when no extra fee is charged).

    No. A Roman Catholic wedding in England must be preceded by civil preliminaries, and must take place in a registered building. An Anglican church is a not a ‘registered building’ for this purpose.

    Yes. People of any faith can be married in an Anglican church, provided that the Anglican form of marriage service is used. An Anglican priest must conduct the service. For the marriage to be legally valid, there are certain parts of the Anglican marriage service which an Anglican priest must say, including the final blessing, but a clergyman of another denomination may assist with other parts of the service, for example, an address or prayers. There is a detailed discussion of this question in Legal Opinions Concerning the Church of England, 8th Ed. 2007 on pages 365-366.

    Normally, the answer is no, unless you have a qualifying connection with the parish where you wish to be married, or unless you obtain a Special Licence. The Marriage Act 1949 allows people to have banns called in the church of any parish where they reside or have a qualifying connection with the parish, and then to be married in the church, or in one of the churches, where banns have been called. Likewise, a person can apply for a Common Licence to be married in the church of any parish with which they have a ‘qualifying connection’.

    However, it is possible for the Bishop to make an order under Paragraph 12 of Schedule 3 of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, specifying where banns may be called and marriages solemnised in a multi-parish benefice. Effectively, this means that the Bishop can make an order saying that any person living within the benefice can have banns called in, and be married in, any church within the benefice. So before thinking about being married in a different parish in the same benefice, you will need to find out whether the Bishop has made an order under the Pastoral Measure in respect of the benefice. If there is no such order in place, then you will need to apply for a Special Licence, unless you can show a qualifying connection with the other parish.

    The Registrar General has amended the regulations on registration, following the coming into effect of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004. The terms “bachelor” and “spinster” are no longer to be used in marriage registers and certificates. The alternative terms to be used are as follows:

    • Single
    • Widow
    • Widower
    • Previous marriage dissolved
    • Previous marriage annulled
    • Surviving civil partner
    • Previous civil partnership dissolved
    • Previous civil partnership annulled

    The same terms will be used in applications for Common Licences.

    Normally, the natural father’s name should appear in the register. Where a person has been legally adopted, his or her adoptive father’s name may be entered without qualification. But if the party to the marriage is known by a surname different from that of his or her adoptive father, and the name and surname of the adoptive father are entered in column 7 of the register, then the words “adoptive parent” may be entered in brackets after the surname, if this is desired by the party. But occasionally one of the parties to a marriage may not wish his or her father’s name to appear, for example, if he or she has never known his or her natural father, or has been brought up by a step-father. In such case the minister should not insist on the natural parent’s name being entered, but should draw a line through the columns relating to the father’s names and profession, to show that the information was not supplied. However, since the coming into force of the Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Regulations 2007, it has been permissible to record a step-father’s name, instead of the natural father’s name, provided that the step-father is, or has been, married to the mother. Where a step-father’s name is entered, the word “step-father” should be entered after the surname.

    Advice on changing your name is set out on the Government website at Changing Your Name by Deed Poll. You can keep your maiden name after marriage if you wish, and no action is required to achieve this. To change to a double-barrelled surname after marriage, your fiancé could change his name by Deed Poll to the new name before you marry, and you could simply adopt his new name after marriage; or you could both change your names by Deed Poll after the marriage. If you both want to be known by the bride’s surname after the marriage, the groom can change his surname to the bride’s surname by Deed Poll prior to the marriage.

    There is a helpful Home Office publication entitled “A Guide for Authorised Persons” which sets out guidance on marriage preliminaries, the legal requirements for solemnisation of marriages, registration of marriages, correction of entries in the register, and the submission of quarterly returns of marriages to the superintendent registrar. See also “Guidebook for the Clergy”.

    Since BREXIT it is required that a foreign national has settled or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme in order to be married by Common Licence.  If they do not hold this status then they will need to apply for a Superintendent Registrars Certificate from a civil register office.

    The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 raised the minimum age at which anyone can get married, or enter a Civil Partnership,  in England from 16 years to 18 years.