It has always been possible to have weddings at Union Chapel but until fairly recently it was necessary for the Registrar to attend them to do all the "legal" bits. This was changed on 1st March 1988 when we obtained permission to have an authorised person from amongst the church officers to oversee the legal bits and fill out the Marriage Registers, which we then had to keep - in a fireproof safe. This was the first time we had a safe and it was only used to contain the Marriage Registers and the bottle of special ink that is required to fill them in. The safe never did (and never does) contain any money. This, however, was unknown to the thieves that attempted to steal it in 1993. There had been a number of break-ins before in which our PA system and a keyboard were stolen. As a result we increased security, particularly by strengthening the doors and changing the locks, so that they could only be opened by keys from inside as well as outside. The thieves broke in through a small window upstairs and dragged/carried the safe, which was not fixed down, but weighs well over 150 Ibs (75 KGS?) the length of the school room from the vestry. They could not open the door and so with enormous effort, presumably, lifted it up and dropped it out of the window at the front (the dent was clearly seen in the grass). They must have been getting tired by then as they finally abandoned it over the railings of the house (The Old Vicarage) on the opposite side of the road. They never managed to open it and, thankfully, the bottle of ink did not break so the Marriage Registers were undamaged!