The Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC) exists to advise parishes and others on church buildings and works to them, ranging from a major extension to the installation of a new light fitting, reordering the church interior or repairing the roof. This includes advice to the Chancellor on granting permissions through the faculty system.
The DAC can offer expert advice to parishes on clocks, bells, organs, historic buildings, art, architecture, archaeology, furniture and plate.
As well as being involved in the Faculty process, the DAC advises on proposals for the redundancy of churches and helps in the appointment of Quinquennial Inspectors.
DAC Committee members have experience relating to various aspects of church buildings. Committee members include clergy, architects and furniture experts. The Chair is Mrs Annie Hampson OBE.
DAC Members 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2031
Mrs Annie Hampson OBE, BA (Hons), DipTP, MRTPI
Chair
Expertise: Planning legislation and church buildings
Annie, former Chief Planner at the City of London , brings extensive Senior experience of a range of developments, the repurposing and refurbishing of listed buildings and churches, as well as Public Inquiries and Committees. Her OBE was awarded for services to Planning in London.
She is a Theatres Trust Trustee and International Property Awards Judge. She chaired Wren 300, chairs the Square Mile Churches Project and is involved in other Diocesan schemes. She has lengthy DAC experience and has chaired the Committee since 2019.
Mr Alex Sherratt, BA (Hons), Dip Arch, RIBA CA, AABC
Deputy Chair
Expertise: Architect, understanding of regeneration projects and community
Alex joined Matthew Lloyd Architects in 2001, becoming a director in 2004, and dedicating much of his career to working with church communities to restore or adapt their buildings for contemporary use. He has worked as a Quinquennial Inspector since 2006, now undertaking this role for some 30 churches across London. Alex has served on the London DAC and Plans Group since 2019 and is also a visiting tutor at Bath University.
The Ven. Peter Farley-Moore
Archdeacon of Hackney
Ex officio member
The Ven. Richard Frank
Archdeacon of Middlesex
Ex officio member
The Ven. John Hawkins
Archdeacon of Hampstead
Ex officio member
The Ven. Katherine Hedderly
Archdeacon of Charing Cross
Ex officio member
The Ven. Luke Miller
Archdeacon of London
Ex officio member
The Ven. Catherine Pickford
Archdeacon of Northolt
Ex officio member
Dr Roger Bowdler, FSA
Historic England Nominated Member
Expertise: Monuments and churches
Roger is an expert on funerary art and commemoration. He was awarded a PhD for his thesis on C17 church monuments. From 1989, he worked for English Heritage, first as a historian, then a listing inspector, before becoming Director of Designation, responsible for all heritage protection decisions. He sat on the Salisbury DAC (2013-17) and was chairman of the Mausolea and Monuments Trust (2014-8). Currently a partner at Montagu Evans, he advises owners on historic buildings matters.
Mr Peter Cormack MBE, MA (Cantab)
FSA Specialist Member
Peter is a historian, writer on Applied Arts, illustrator and occasional designer of stained glass. Formerly Keeper of the William Morris Gallery, London, he curated many exhibitions of work by Morris and members of the Arts & Crafts Movement. He was a V&A Research Fellow and is Honorary Curatorial Adviser for Kelmscott Manor, Morris’s Oxfordshire home. His books include Arts & Crafts Stained Glass (2015) and Charles J. Connick (2024).
Mr Alan Frost LVO, AADip, DCHM RIBA, AABC
Architect Member
Alan is a RIBA member with a post-graduate Diploma in the Conservation of Historical Monuments. He is an Assessor for the AABC (Architects Accredited in Building Conservation). He is a former recipient of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association’s prestigious King of Prussia Gold Medal for the restoration of churches and has worked on historic buildings in Bangladesh, Italy, Kuwait and Shanghai.
Ms Kathryn Gundry, BArch, MArch, PGCert ARB RIBA
Specialist Member
Expertise: Access
Kathryn is the Design Team Lead at Motionspot, an Inclusive Design Consultancy, with extensive experience in architecture and a strong focus on equity and inclusion. Formerly a Project Architect and Associate at WWA, she spent seven years delivering projects across all RIBA stages, from heritage buildings to new developments in housing, community and workplace sectors. She is also a qualified Access Consultant and currently Chair of the Access Association’s London and South-East region.
Mrs Kathryn Harris, MA (Cantab), DipArch RIBA, AABC
Architect Member
Kathryn specialises in the creative adaption and conservation of historic buildings. After studying architecture at Cambridge, she worked in London at Richard Griffiths Architects, before moving to Nick Cox Architects in Oxfordshire in 2019. Kathryn is the Architect for two cathedrals and several churches, including St Martin-in-the-Fields. She also works on public buildings, private houses, and schools, is an Attingham Trust Scholar and an Association of English Cathedrals project support panel member.
Mr Patrick Hegarty, CMLI CHort
Specialist Member
Expertise: Landscape Architecture
For 32 years Patrick developed gardens and greening at the City of London’s Open Spaces Department, including advising on planning applications, negotiating with developers, project management and audits. Projects included appraisal and refurbishment of various churchyards. Other voluntary roles include Chair of Finance and Fabric Committees at St Monica’s RC Church, Hoxton.
Mr Robert Hradsky, MA
Specialist Member
Expertise: History of Art
Robert is a conservation advisor at Alan Baxter, with 18 years’ experience in the cultural sector. Robert studied History of Art at Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute, where he has an MA. Robert has a keen interest in churches and has advised PCCs on a range of heritage issues from fabric condition to flexible use. Prior to joining Alan Baxter, he worked at the Soane Museum, SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the Euston Arch Trust.
Ms Sarah Khan, RIBA SCA, AABC
Architect Member
Sarah is a Partner at Roger Mears Architects and the lead consultant for many Buildings at Risk and grant-funded projects. She is a Commissioner for the Cathedrals Fabric Commission, a trustee for the IHBC and has been on the RIBA Conservation Group as well as a SPAB Guardian on the Technical and Research Committee. Her ethos centres on identifying historic buildings’ potential and working with clients and communities to deliver the care these buildings need.
Dr Mark Kirby, MA (Cantab), FRSA
Specialist Member
Expertise: Historic church furnishings
Mark is an architectural historian focusing on church architecture, with a particular (but not exclusive) interest in the late 16C and 17Cs, especially church furnishings and stained glass of that period. He is Chairman of the Council of the Ecclesiological Society and a member of the Fabric Advisory Committee of St Paul’s Cathedral. He is a practising member of the Church of England and worships at a church in the Diocese of Rochester.
Ms Laura Moffatt, BA, MA, Dip Theol
Specialist Member
Expertise: Contemporary fine art and commissioning works of art
Laura is director of Art and Christianity, the UK’s leading organisation in the field of art and religion. As such, she is experienced in project managing and curating new art for churches and regularly advises parishes and artists on the practicalities of working together. She is a member of the Church Buildings Council and has an in-depth and broad understanding both of the needs of parishes and of the aesthetic significance of church buildings.
Mr Adrian Mumford, MA MMus FCIS ARCM FLCM
Specialist Member
Expertise: Organs
Adrian read music at Surrey University, then qualified as a Company Secretary before completing a Business Masters. For 20 years, he served as Diocesan Secretary of the Diocese in Europe and was Lambeth Palace Organist until 2018. For the last six years, he has been Organ Advisor to the Diocese of Guildford DAC, serves as a Trustee of the British Institute of Organ Studies and is a member of the CBC Organs Committee. He is Director of Music at Twickenham Parish Church.
Air Commodore Delva Patman, FRICS ACIArb
Specialist Member
Expertise: Surveyor
Delva is an acknowledged expert on rights to light, party walls and all neighbourly issues. She has a wealth of experience working on architecturally significant buildings, including a number of City churches and is currently responsible for the fabric of St Clement Danes. She is a former Vice President of RICS (2006-09) and Board Chair of the University College of Estate Management (2008-15). Delva is Surveyor to the Tallow Chandlers Company and looks after its Grade I listed building.
Ms Becky Payne
Specialist Member
Expertise: Open churches and community engagement
Becky spent seven years as Policy Officer for the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, promoting and enabling the potential of church buildings as a resource for the whole community. Since 2011, she has undertaken projects aimed at sustaining historic places of worship. This has included developing online resources for congregations, such as the Crossing the Threshold Toolkit, as well as carrying out evaluations of grant programmes most recently the NLHF’s Grants for Places of Worship.
Mr Kenneth Powell, MA, Hon FRIBA
Specialist Member
Expertise: Reorderings
Kenneth has extensive knowledge and experience of a wide range of buildings. At various times, he has been a member of the Fabric Committee at Guildford Cathedral, the Art and Architecture Committee at Westminster Cathedral and the Historic Churches Committee for the Diocese of Leeds (RC). Other former roles include Director of the C20 Society and member of the Building Committee at The Victorian Society. He is a former architecture correspondent for The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Mark Price, BSc (Hons), PGDip, MRTPI
Local Authority Representative
Expertise: Planning and development of heritage buildings
Mark is a Heritage Consultant with over 25 years’ planning, architectural, urban design, conservation and regeneration experience. He has worked at various Local Authorities and has an in-depth knowledge of the planning system, including assessing architectural plans and drafting compliant heritage reports. Mark has also worked at Historic England alongside its Building Inspectors.
Mr Michael Royalton-Kisch, BA (Hons), MSc, MRICS
Architect Member
Michael has 12 years’ experience of working on heritage buildings and is an approved QI. He specialises in change of use schemes, which preserve historic fabric, whilst offering a sustainable future. As a volunteer, Michael project managed the restoration of the tower stonework and C18 bells at St Katharine Cree, and has carried out two similar projects at Hampstead and Kilburn.
The Revd Jonathan Rust, RICS
Architect Member
Jonathan worked as a Chartered Surveyor (Planning & Development Specialist) for FTSE 100 Property Companies, overseeing major property schemes in London’s West End and other UK cities. Since Ordination, Jonathan has been involved in developing two new CoE schools (St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington, and The Courtyard (for ASD pupils), as well as two major church refurbishment projects. Now as Director of Mission in the Kensington Area, he continues to offer support to parishes considering building projects.
Mr Matthew Saunders MBE
Joint Committee of the National Amenity Societies
Expertise: Historian
Matthew has a wealth of experience dealing with listed buildings. He is a former Secretary of the Ancient Monuments Society and a former Director of The Friends of Friendless Churches. He is currently a Member of the Church Buildings Council and sits on its Statutory Advisory Committee, as well as being Vice President of the Ecclesiological Society. He regularly lectures and writes on the subject of historic churches.
Dr Neal Shasore, MA MSt DPhil (Oxon.), Hon. FRIBA
Specialist Member
Expertise: History of Architecture
Neal is a historian of the built environment and a heritage advocate. He has published widely on the history of twentieth century architecture in Imperial Britain. For four years he served as Chief Executive and Head of School at the London School of Architecture. He is a trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund and a member of Historic England’s London Advisory Committee.
