Registering a building as a place of worship and to perform marriages

To register a building for one of the following, you will need to complete an application form. You can obtain an application form by contacting the Stockport Register Office or you can print and return the Enquiry Form.

• to register a building as a place of Worship

  Under the provision of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855, a congregation may apply for a building to be certified as a place of Worship by applying to the Superintendent Registrar in the district Where the building is situated.

  You will be sent two copies of form 76, which should be completed and returned to the Superintendent Registrar with:
  

1. A floor plan of the building. This does not need to be professionally drawn or to scale, but must show all the rooms, doorways, floors and staircases.
2. An average weekly timetable of religious and any other activities that take place in the building. This must also include any activities not run by the congregation. This is to allow the Registrar General to be satisfied that the Building is primarily used for religious worship.

Please ask the Superintendent Registrar for details of the Fee charged.

• to register a place of Worship to perform marriages

  Registered for the solemnisation of marriages - To apply for this the building must also be certified as a place of worship (If the building is not already certified the two applications can be made at the same time).

  You will need two copies of form 78, which can be obtained from the Superintendent Registrar at your local register office. These must be signed by twenty householders who regard the building as their usual place of worship.

  A householder is any person who resides at an address and has either sole or joint responsibility for that household. The forms must also be countersigned by a trustee, or proprietor of, the actual building.

  These forms should be returned to the superintendent registrar with the fee (Please ask the superintendent registrar for details of the fee).

• to register the future disuse of a building

  If a building is not going to be used as a place of Worship and/or a place to perform marriages please contact the Register Office.