Crossword Genius

Require space for church (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

enforce

'require' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'space for church' is the wordplay.
'space' becomes 'en'.
'church' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'en'+'for'+'ce'='ENFORCE'

(Other definitions for enforce that I've seen before include "Insist on" , "Compel compliance or obedience" , "Give effect to" , "exercise" , "Implement - compel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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