The Rt Revd Colin Scott writes:

SOME value the Church of England as the custodian of the nation’s heritage; others regard church buildings as first and foremost places of worship. For Thomas Cocke, who died in April, aged 59, both statements were profoundly true. He was a distinguished architectural historian, but also, in his own words, “a cradle Christian” whose faith developed into something deeply personal.

It was this combination of academic rigour with a practical understanding of the pressures on congregations which made him such an able and sympathetic Secretary of the Council for the Care of Churches (CCC).

His studies at Cambridge and the Courtauld Institute, where he obtained his Ph.D., prepared him for an academic career in what was, however, a somewhat limited field. He lectured at the University of Manchester, and then at Cambridge, remaining a Fellow of Darwin College until 2001. Between these appointments, he worked as an investigator for the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, reporting on a wide range of buildings from the Saxon to the Victorian eras.

This width of experience served him well when he was appointed as Secretary of the CCC in 1990. When I became Chairman of the Council in 1994, I quickly came to value him as a colleague and friend. Having no professional architectural expertise, I relied on our briefing sessions before meetings, while I shared with him my knowledge of the difficulties facing hard-pressed inner-city congregations.

As a very active member of the congregation at St Botolph’s, Cambridge, he also knew at first hand the joys and demands for worshippers in a medieval church. While he always struggled to help congregations value their heritage, he recognised the

need in some situations for sympathetic adaptation for contemporary worship and other appropriate activities.

One of the highlights of the Council’s programme was an annual conference for members of diocesan advisory councils. This was an opportunity to brief new members, share experience, and learn from professionals in different fields. It also enabled some discreet in-service training of old hands, thus maintaining some consistency between dioceses.

Thomas was excellent, giving time to individuals, and befriending and encouraging the lonely or bewildered. He related well to people here, although he did not always find it easy to lead a staff team of talented individuals.

He always regretted the separation of the fabric oversight of cathedrals from that of churches, which had formerly been united in the Council for Places of Worship, but he was himself active as a member of fabric advisory committees for Westminster Abbey and Ely and St Edmundsbury Cathedrals. He has a long association with Westminster Abbey, and played a great part in the exhibition Nine Hundred Years: the Restoration of Westminster Abbey.

He always had a particular concern, not only for the fabric but also for the fixtures, fittings, and contents of churches. He helped the Council steer its course through the controversies about electronic organs, replacement of pews, or the sale of pictures or plate to fund urgent repairs. Generally these objects may not have been there from the church’s origin, but may yet have been in its possession for centuries.

Thomas valued such possessions, and, if sale was unavoidable, was concerned that they should be kept in the area, if possible in a museum. Other possessions, which were moved to meet contemporary requirements, should, where possible, be stored, lest fashions changed again, and they might once more be needed.

From this concern came his support for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), who had done sterling work recording church contents. This led him to move there as chief executive in 2001. Sadly, the move proved a mistake, and personal relationships led him to resign five years later. Although he continued to write and teach, his later years were dogged by depression.

His greatest work had been during his time at the Council for the Care of Churches, whether encouraging local congregations, guiding DACs, or doing battle to maintain the ecclesiastical exemption, insisting quite rightly that the Church, with its faculty jurisdiction, had a better record for conserving and maintaining its listed buildings than had many local planning authorities.

Thomas Cocke’s death is a sad loss to the Church and his many friends, but our special sympathy is for his wife Carolyn (Carrie) and their two children.