An unlikely cause for conflict, Teesdale Mercury

An unlikely cause for conflict

Feb 5, 2008

CHURCH pews are often the cause of conflict. The suggestion by a vicar or church council that pews might possibly be moved or even - horror of horrors - removed altogether can lead to a rather surprising outpouring of emotion in a parish. And it isn't just churchgoers that react so passionately to the subject.

I am even a bit nervous about writing about pews, such are the strong feelings that any discussion about them evokes.

Why should this be? On the face of it, pews are simply inanimate objects often made of pitch pine and usually not of any great age. What is so special about church pews?

The strange thing is that churches  built before the 16th century didn't originally have pews at all. The Medieval Church expected people to stand during the services or perhaps squat on the floor. Churches were meeting places for the community in a way not imagined today.

They were often noisy, even during services, and the nave, or main body of the church, was often not very clean. There are many instances of dogs fighting each other within the church. One of the duties of church wardens was to use their staffs to remove dogs and other animals from the church.

Even the great cathedrals, like Durham Cathedral and York Minster, were built without seats in the nave. Nowadays, for a few days each year, all the pews and chairs are taken out of these cathedrals so that the buildings have ‘a chance to breath' and so that people can appreciate the cathedrals as they were meant to be seen. There are stone seats built into the walls of both Durham Cathedral and York Minister but these were for the old and infirm. Everyone else was expected to stand. The expression ‘the weak go to the wall' comes from this practice in the Medieval church.

So what happened - why did seats become so popular? Did people just become weaklings?

The answer probably has something to do with a change in church services. In other words, we can blame the Reformation. Of course, that isn't the whole story. One of the reasons the Reformation happened was tied up with the invention of the printing press and the consequent improvement in literacy.

In Teesdale, there is evidence that schools set up from the time of Henry VIII frequently used the parish church as a schoolroom, or sometimes scholars attended services in the church as a group. In both cases, forms were provided for the scholars. It may have been the case that the school pupils were more easily kept in order if they were seated and kept together - nothing changes does it?

However, it was the change of focus of church services that was the main reason for the arrival of benches and pews into the parish church. Instead of the congregation watching the drama of the mass and taking part in processions and similar activities, listening to the word of God became the central part of the services.

Before the Reformation, everything was visual and the congregation didn't really need to listen to the service - after all it was in Latin. After the Reformation, the most important thing was for the congregation to hear the Bible being read and then explained by means of long sermons. It wasn't surprising that people needed to sit down. Churches quite suddenly became much more serious places and in many cases - after the novelty had worn off - rather dull.

Benches were soon installed often with decorated ends and sometimes with carved backs. Once there, people started to vie with each other for the best places to sit, and rich families of high status actually began to bring their own seats into the church.

Church wardens, seeing a good way of raising money, started to rent out pews. Soon churches became cluttered places filled with all sorts of boxed pews.

The old benches, were relegated to the chancel as choir stalls. Some of these 17th century pews, complete with poppy heads and exotic creatures, can still be seen in the choir at Winston Church.

In Cockfield Church, the bench ends have gone but the pew backs have survived as wall panelling.

It was only a matter of time before the church took over control of the seating arrangements. Pews were allocated to families or to dwellings and rent was paid for them. Needless to say, the more prominent families got the best seats and the poor were relegated to the back of the church where a few free backless benches were placed.

In some churches, these church plans have survived giving an insight into 17th and 18th century life. The pew plans for Bowes and Middleton churches are particularly detailed.

Pew rents lasted for nearly 200 years. However, with the industrial developments and growth of towns in the 19th century, rented out pews became old fashioned and difficult to justify. After all they weren't exactly Christian!

So rents and pew plans were nearly all abolished by the middle of the century. However, people have long memories and pews still stir up memories of ownership and status.

Perhaps we will eventually go full circle and have churches with only a few seats round the wall for the old and infirm. Who knows!

First published in the Mercury, January 30, 2008