Under the provision of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855, a congregation may apply for a certified building of worship by applying to the Superintendent Registrar.

How to Apply

Form 76

Application must be made in the district where the venue is situated. This excludes churches or chapels of the Church of England, unless they share a church building with another religious denomination. The person who acts as 'minister', 'proprietor' or 'trustee' at the place of worship has to complete in duplicate two copies of Form 76 (Form for certifying a place of meeting for religious worship under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855). The completed Form 76 should be sent to the registration office with a sketch of the floor plan identifying which rooms will be used for worship, an average weekly timetable of how the building will be used, and a cheque or postal order made payable to Swindon Borough Council covering the statutory fee of £28.

Place of Marriage

Form 78

If they decide they wish the place of worship to become a place where marriages can take place, they need to complete Form 78 (certificate and application for the registration of a place of religious worship for the solemnisation of marriages under section 41 of the Marriage Act 1949). This should be dealt with if possible together with the original application for a place of worship. However, it can only be requested after the date of certification of the building as a place of worship.

More About Form 78

Form 78 requires signatures of 20 separate householders who say that the building is their usual place of worship and that they desire it to be registered for the solenmisation of marriages. A statutory fee of £120 is payable to Swindon Borough Council.

Once the information is received at the Register Office, the information is sent to the General Registration Office (GRO) for authorisation. Once the GRO certify a building for worship and marriage, the register office is required to advertise the new place of worship in the local newspaper. The applicant is then sent the certificate stating that it is now a place for worship and marriage, and a letter of confirmation follows this.

Form 77

If the place of worship is in disuse or another minister/proprietor takes over the place of worship, Form 77 (Notice of Disuse of a certified place of meeting for religious worship to be given to the Register General, pursuant to the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855) needs to be completed. The process outlined above for registering a place of worship would have to be conducted again.  Re-registration is not required if the building is demolished and rebuilt.

Form 77 is available as a downloadable pdf file:

Further Information/Contact

Application forms for these services are not made generally available to the public and are therefore not available online. Please contact us using the details above to request further information.