Now comes a gap, to be brutally correct, a delay. Will this land ever become Church land? There is no more correspondence until December 1929, some 7 months later. How could this be for so important an undertaking? The only facts we have is the correspondance in the record and you have all the pertinent copies in front of you, so you can make up your own mind. There is always the possiblilty that letters may be missing and of course, the PCC minute book may be somewhere, but for the moment let us give Colonel Drew the benefit of the doubt and say that he felt having acquired the land and the pertinent administrative procedure he then felt that it was up to the Diocesan Board of Finance to get on with the job. You could also say he just ignored the problem, not wanting to pay the fees though the Solicitor made it clear in his letter that he was expecting All Saints West Parley PCC to pay. In any case ....

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So nearly a year has passed. As an aside, note that there is no question of development on either side of the plot as there has been no request to determine the boundaries or to erect fencing, and the original plan adrift somewhere - note the request for its return. West Parley, nearly all green fields and heath - there's a thought. Mr Meaby's letter had the desired effect and it jogged Colonel Drew into action, though you would have thought he would have been at least curious as to what was going on during the summer.

click here for a pop-up with the transcript of the letter

click here for a pop-up with the transcript of the letter

Maybe Colonel Drew had not been so inactive, after all he had spoken to the now dead Archdeacon, who, of course, was in no position to deny whether or not the conversation had ever taken place, or to explain what he may have done, - or not done ..... useful .... cynicism rules OK SALISBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE CHURCH HOUSE SALISBURY Dear Sir, Site for new Church at Dudsbury West Parley In reply to your letter of the 19th inst. The matter of the new site has not, so far as I am aware, come to the knowledge either of my Board or of its Trust Committee. The Board's solicitor is away from home, but I am informed by his office that no papers in regard to the matter can be found. We shall be sorry if the impression were given that Lord Wimborne's generous gift was not appreciated. Can you tell me with what Diocesan authority you, or others interested, communicated? It is possible that the hitch has been caused by the death of the late lamented Archdeacon of Dorset Yours faithfully P J Dale Canon Secretary & Treasurer

And now the wrangling begins.

Diocesan Board of Finance Dear Sir, Site for a new Church at Dudsbury West Parley In reply to your letter of 20th inst. I beg to inform you that Lord Wimborne's gift was reported to you in my letter WP/99/6 of 22 Jan 1929, which was acknowledged by you on 23 January; a second letter from me WP/99/13 of 9 February was acknowledged by the Assistant Secretary on 13 February. In April I received a letter from Messrs Symonds and Sons Solicitors to the Board ( note : Drew is wrong here; the solicitors were Wilsons; the name of the solicitor was Symonds) asking who would be responsible for their fees. I replied that the acceptance of responsibility could not be considered by my Council unless it was informed of what the approximate amount of fees would be. Messrs Symonds & Sons then gave me some figures but reserved the right to revise them which made their information of no value. This last letter appeared to me to require no reply; it was obviously impossible for my Council to commit themselves to an unknown liability. They were not the applicants for the acceptance of the trust of the site but had merely complied with the instructions of the late Archdeacon of Dorset to aid in giving effect

to the recommendations of the Commissioners on the future needs of the Church in East Dorset. Further their financial resources were strained to the utmost in the provision of funds to repair the roof of the Parish Church. It was imagined that the matter having been referred to the Diocesan Board of Finance would be carried through by them. However it appears to me that the matter of Messrs Symonds & Sons fees, must not be allowed to obscure the real issue of the conveyance of the site of the new Church. My Council will do all in their power financially and otherwise, to attain this end, and it is, I think proof of their interest, that it was through their action that Lord Wimborne's offer was made. Yours faithfully Charles D Drew Hon Secretary West Parley Parochial Church Council

At least now we have some sort of explanation of why there was no reply to Wilsons' letter giving an estimate of the fees. It is fair to say that Drew was being naive in the extreme and does not excuse him not advising the Diocesan Board of the position
stay with us - there are yet more manouverings on page 6!

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