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Tithe Rentcharge. 



[mar.. 



The fact that they have thus escaped payment does not, however, 

 exempt them from their Hability to contribute to the cost of 

 redemption. 



The Custody of Documents relatlngr to Tithes. — Lands in 11,787 

 parishes in England and Wales are subject to tithe rentcharge. 

 The amount of this charge on any particular property may be 

 ascertained by inspecting the tithe map and apportionment 

 for the parish in the custody of the Ministry. Certified copies 

 of each map and apportionment have been deposited in the 

 parish, usually in the custody of the Incumbent and Church- 

 wardens. Copies are also to be found in charge of the Registrar 

 of the Diocese. The parish or Diocesan copies are open to 

 inspection on payment of a charge of 2s. 6d. According to 

 complaints w^hich reach the Ministry from time to time, many 

 of the parish copies of the apportionments and maps are in a 

 worn and damaged state, while others have been entirely lost. 

 This is no doubt due, partly to the practice of some custodians 

 of unlawfully lending the documents out of their custody and 

 partly to collectors of the tithe rentcharges being permitted to 

 keep the documents, even in cases where they reside and carry 

 on business out of the parish. Should a sealed copy of a tithe 

 map or apportionment be in the possession of a person other 

 than the persons legally entitled to hold it, any two Justices 

 of the Peace for the County, or other jurisdiction within which 

 the lands are situate, may, upon the appUcation of any person 

 interested in the lands or rentcharge, order the document to 

 be removed from the custody of the person who unlawfully 

 holds it and to be deposited in such other custody as the Justices 

 may think fit, having reference to the security and the pre- 

 servation of the document and to the convenience of the parties 

 interested therein. Another means of dealing with cases 

 where documents of this character are in unlawful custody is 

 afforded by Section 17 (8) of the Local Government Act, 1894, 

 which provides that Parish Councils may give directions 

 as to the custody in which statutory parish copies of tithe 

 apportionments and maps and of other tithe documents 

 shall be deposited. This Sub-section further provides that the 

 Incumbent and the Churchwardens on the one part and the 

 Parish Council on the other are entitled to reasonable access 

 to the documents, and any difference as to the custody or 

 access is to be determined by the County Council. 



Apportionment. — Where an estate charged with one tithe 

 rentcharge is broken up and sold off in lots, it is 

 often provided in the conditions of sale that the respective 



