## Facts

- Escot House in the United Kingdom was the family estate of John Kennaway and his family.
- In 1838, Kennaway’s ancestors built Escot Church near the estate.
- Over many years, the Kennaway family patronized the church and assisted in furnishing it, providing multiple items to the church.
- Around 1950, a painting owned by the Kennaway family was hung in Escot Church.
- The painting remained displayed in the church for more than 20 years.
- In 1977, church administrators sent the painting away for restoration.
- After the restoration, the painting was returned and re-hung in the church.
- After the restoration, churchwardens raised the possibility of selling the painting, but no further steps were taken and no sale occurred.
- In October 1977, Kennaway asserted ownership of the painting and said it had been loaned to the church rather than given; he asked that it be returned to the Kennaway family.
- Kennaway filed a petition in the ecclesiastical court seeking a determination that the painting remained his property.
- At the hearing, evidence included testimony from:
  - Mrs. Kennaway, who said that when she brought the painting to the church she intended a loan rather than a gift, and she did not think it would remain there as long as it did.
  - Hilda Feather, a churchgoer, who said Mrs. Kennaway had told her the painting did not suit Escot House and that she meant to give it to the church.
  - E. H. Brown, treasurer of the church council, who said that when he spoke with Kennaway about restoration, Kennaway said nothing indicating that he claimed ownership.

## Issues

1. Whether, on the evidence, the painting placed in Escot Church was given outright to the church or only lent so that title remained with the Kennaway family.
2. Whether Kennaway was entitled to an order requiring the church to return the painting based on his asserted continuing ownership.

## Decision

- The chancellor reviewed the testimony and the surrounding circumstances to determine where title to the painting lay.
- The court found the evidence supported a conclusion that the painting had been given to the church rather than retained on a continuing loan.
- Kennaway’s petition asserting personal ownership and seeking the painting’s return was refused, and the church was entitled to retain the painting.

## Legal Principles

- Whether a chattel has been given to a church or merely loaned is determined by evaluating intention to give and delivery, proved from all the circumstances.
- The court gives weight to objective evidence of intention, including how the item was introduced to the church, how it was treated over time, and what was said at or near the time it was placed there.
- Long, uninterrupted possession and display of an item in a church, without an expressed and maintained reservation of ownership, is evidence consistent with an outright gift.
- A later claim that an item was only on loan may be discounted when it conflicts with earlier statements attributed to the transferor and with conduct showing that the church dealt with the item as church property.
- Failure to assert ownership when the church arranges restoration or other acts of control may be taken as evidence against a continuing private title claim.

## Conclusion

In re Escot Church involved a petition by John Kennaway to recover a painting that his family had placed in Escot Church around 1950 and that had remained there for more than two decades. After the church sent the painting for restoration in 1977 and the idea of a sale was mentioned, Kennaway asserted that the painting had only been loaned and sought its return. The Exeter Consistory Court weighed conflicting testimony about the original intention and considered the parties’ conduct over the long period of church possession, ultimately concluding that the painting belonged to the church and refusing Kennaway’s petition.


In re Escot Church, 3 WLR 339 (1979)