Ancient law protects me on way to church, argues priest

A PRIEST who was clamped as he took a 97-year-old parishioner to a Sunday service called upon an ancient English law to force wardens to release his car.
Father David Houlding of All Hallows Church in Courthope Road, Gospel Oak, was furious to discover this weekend wardens had nabbed him while he was on his rounds to pick up elderly and disabled people who can’t make their own way to his Sunday morning Mass.
He had parked his car to the entrance of the near-by Waxham estate to collect regular churchgoer Margery Vennells, 97, and when he returned moments later with his frail parishioner he found two wardens standing over his car – with a clamp in place.
Father Houlding, who is the Dean for North London, pleaded with them to free his car, and even cited an obscure 16th-century law that states it is illegal to hinder a priest on his way to Sunday services.
But the clampers refused to listen and told him he would have to pay a fine of £75 – and even doubted he was a man of the cloth.
He said: “They refused to believe I was a priest.”
Father Houlding, who was dressed in his Sunday uniform of a black cassock with red buttons, and had a “priest on call” sign in his car window, could not believe what he was hearing.
He said: “They thought I was pulling a fast one. I said ‘I’m not dressed up like this for fun, you know.’”
And even the fact Father Houlding was due to pick up a 97-year old woman – who was waiting further up the road on the corner for him – fell on deaf ears.
Eventually, a bemused Mrs Vennells, who cannot stand for long periods, was given a lift in the clamper van to All Hallows, while Father Houlding was left waiting by his car so he could pay the fine – leaving a congregation of 50 at his morning mass waiting.
The priest said the parking laws left him with no room for manoeuvre. He said: “This is officialdom beyond belief. The whole thing is absurd. I wasn’t blocking anything. What outrages me is the intransigence of the situation – there was no room for manoeuvre.”
And the priest was unrepentant for breaking the law.
He said: “I am going to keep parking there every Sunday. I will not be beaten.”
He added: “I know they were doing their job, but I was stopped from doing my job – which is helping people.”
Father Houlding added under the ancient law the parking attendants could be imprisoned. He said: “It is an offence to hinder a priest on his way to Sunday services – as long as he or she is not committing a criminal offence themselves.”
He added he was asked to cough up the money immediately said: “They wanted me to pay right away, but I didn’t have any money on me. I didn’t have a mobile phone either so I couldn’t call the Church to let them know what was going on.”
Yesterday (Wednesday) Father Houlding was philosophical about the events.
He said: “It must be the first time someone has been taken to church in a clamper van – at least that’s something.”
A council spokesman said the priest had broken a ten minute no-clamp rule on the estate. They said: “Wardens give people ten minutes and he was parked for 12. He was in a no-parking area.”
They added Father Houlding can appeal to the district housing office – and also contact them about making future arrangements for gathering his flock.