Spires, Antennae and the Court of Arches

There’s an interesting report in the Times Online of a judgment by the Court of Arches. Presided over by the Right Honourable and Right Worshipful the Official Principal and Dean of the Arches, it is the ecclesiastical court for the Province of Canterbury (i.e. the south half of England). Seems that a church and a local telephone company wanted to install a base station and antennae for mobile phones in the church spire. At the trial level, the Court of Arches refused permission on the ground that

some of the material to be transmitted through the antennae was not consistent with the use of the church as a place of Christian worship and that it was no part of the work or the mission of the Church to facilitate the transmission of pornography whether from the internet or privately created, whether lawful or unlawful.

On appeal, a three-person bench of the Court of Arches overturned the decision, deciding that there were sufficient benefits to outweigh the risk that some individuals would use the facility for less than admirable purposes.

A lovely twisting of ancient and modern, I think. As well, one imagines that T-Mobile would be contributing significantly to the campaign for a new roof that English churches are forever needing.