Glebe

Glebe (Lat. gleba, 'a clod or lump of earth'), the land belonging to an ecclesiastical benefice, or from which the revenues of the benefice arise. The assignment of glebe-lands was formerly held to be of such absolute necessity that without them no church could be regularly consecrated. The fee-simple of the glebe is held by the law of England to be in abeyance—that is to say, without an owner, in contemplation of law; but after induction the freehold of the glebe is in the parson, and he possesses most of the powers of a proprietor, with the exception of the power of alienation. The quantity of land to be assigned is not fixed by any general rule of law; and the glebe-lands of the parochial clergy vary considerably in extent. Previous to the Reformation the clergy possessed certain powers of alienation at common law; and if a bishop with the assent of his chapter, or an abbot with the assent of his convent, or the like, alienated glebe-lands, the deed would not have been void, because the fee-simple was in the holder of the benefice for the time being; but by 1 Eliz. chap. 19, and other statutes of the same reign, all grants, feoffments, conveyances or other estates shall be utterly void and of none effect, notwithstanding any consent or confirmation whatsoever. Subsequent statutes prescribe and regulate the modes in which glebe-lands may be dealt with. Power has been given to exchange glebe houses and lands; and by the Tithe Commutation Act (1836) the Tithe Commissioners (since 1882 Land Commissioners) were empowered to ascertain and define the boundaries of the glebe-lands of any benefice, and also, with consent of the ordinary and patron, to exchange the glebe-lands for other lands within the same or any adjoining parish, or otherwise conveniently situated. The subsequent Act 17 and 18 Vict. chap. 84 moreover provides that the incumbent of any benefice entitled to glebe shall, with such consents as are specified in the act, be entitled to annex such glebe or other lands by deed to any church or chapel within the parish, district, or place wherein such glebe or land is situate. Glebe-lands are exempt from tithe; they are also excepted out of the acts which forbid the benefited clergy to engage in agriculture and trade. If an incumbent dies after sowing his glebe-land his personal representative is entitled to the crop. The Glebe Lands Act (1888) provides facilities for the sale of glebe with the approval of the Land Commissioners. See Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law.

Glebe in Scotland.—In Scotland, as in England, a glebe forms, as a general rule, a portion of every ecclesiastical benefice of the Established Church, and is thus an addition to the stipend, and sometimes a very important one. Ministers in royal burghs, however, cannot claim glebes, unless in cases where there is a landward district attached to the parish. Even then, if there are two ministers, only the first can claim a glebe. Where parishes are disjoined, or separated into two portions, moreover, it does not necessarily follow that the portion erected into a new parish shall contain a glebe. By 5 Geo. IV. chap. 72, provision is made for payment of compensation out of the public revenue, in lieu of manse and glebe, to ministers whose stipends do not exceed £200. If there are arable lands, the glebe must not be less than four acres. If there is no arable land, the minister is entitled to sixteen soums of grass adjacent to the church. A soum is as much as will pasture ten sheep or one cow, so that the actual extent varies with the richness of the soil and consequent quality of the pasture. The presbytery possesses the power of designing glebes, the heritor from whose property the glebe is designed having recourse against the other heritors of the parish. By 1572, chap. 48, it is enacted that the glebe shall not be alienated by the incumbent. As the act limits its prohibition to such alienation as may be detrimental to the successor of the incumbent, it has been doubted whether the latter might not feu. The court, however, has been very unwilling to sanction this proceeding. When the church is changed, or transported, as it is called, to a new site, the court will authorise the sale or excambion of the glebe, but such excambions must be sanctioned by the presbytery. Where minerals are found on the glebe, they are worked under the superintendence of the heritors and presbytery for the behoof of the incumbent. Trees growing on the glebe are thought to belong to him. Glebe-lands are usually teind-free. See TEINDS.