In a leading case (_Ross_ v. _Adcock_,
1868, L.R. 3 C.P. 657) it was said that the court was acquainted with no
precedent or decision extending the liability of the executors of a
deceased incumbent to any species of waste beyond dilapidation of the
house, chancel or other buildings or fences of the benefice. And it has
been held that the mere mismanagement or miscultivation of the
ecclesiastical lands will not give rise to an action for dilapidations.
To place the law relating to dilapidations on a more satisfactory
footing, the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act 1871 was passed. The
buildings to which the act applies are defined to be such houses of
residence, chancels, walls, fences and other buildings and things as the
incumbent of the benefice is by law and custom bound to maintain in
repair. In each diocese a surveyor is appointed by the archdeacons and
rural deans subject to the approval of the bishop; and such surveyor
shall by the direction of the bishop examine the buildings on the
following occasions--viz. (1) when the benefice is sequestrated; (2)
when it is vacant; (3) at the request of the incumbent or on complaint
by the archdeacon, rural dean or patron. The surveyor specifies the
works required, and gives an estimate of their probable cost. In the
case of a vacant benefice, the new incumbent and the old incumbent or
his representatives may lodge objections to the surveyor's report on any
grounds of fact or law, and the bishop, after consideration, may make an
order for the repairs and their cost, for which the late incumbent or
his representatives are liable. The sum so stated becomes a debt due
from the late incumbent or his representatives to the new incumbent, who
shall pay over the money when recovered to the governors of Queen Anne's
Bounty. The governors pay for the works on execution on receipt of a
certificate from the surveyor; and the surveyor, when the works have
been completed to his satisfaction, gives a certificate to that effect,
the effect of which, so far as regards the incumbent, is to protect him
from liability for dilapidations for the next five years. Unnecessary
buildings belonging to a residence house may, by the authority of the
bishop and with the consent of the patron, be removed. An amending
statute of 1872 (Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act (1871) Amendment)
relates chiefly to advances by the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty for
the purposes of the act.

DILATATION (from La