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or ILLI NOIS

UN VLRSITY
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OF THE

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THE HISTORY OF PEWS

A

PAPER
READ BEFOr.E

Clje ^amtJriUgc atntrcn octft|?

On ^foNDAY November

22 1841

WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING A REPORT PRESENTED TO THE SOCIETY ON THE STATISTICS OF PEWS
On Moxdav Decembek
7 1841

" THE

CHURCHES OF GOD DID AND DO DETEST THE PROFANEKESS THAT AND MAY BE COMMITTED IN CLOSE AND EXALTED PEWS"
Pocklington's Allare Otristianum

IS

p. 26

CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNirERSITY PRESS

STEVENSON CAMBRIDGE PARKER OXFORD RIVINGTONS LONDON

MDCCCXLI

**lt tf)tvt

comt
in

into

0010 ring, in gooJilp apparel^ antr tfievc

pour a00cmijip a man tome

!|ai3p
aiitf ^aj?

U)it$

in aleo

a poor
!)i!ii

man

Mt

raimtnt, antJ ^t

rtesprct

t^at Ujearetlj t^e gai? clothing,

unto unto fim*

^tantJf

Sit tijou ^erc in a gooSj place; antf gap to tijc poor, t^ou tiiert, or 0it f^txe unhtv mg footstool; ate ^t not t^en partial in pour^clijee, antr are iiuomt
juS)ge0 of

tUl

tijougi^ts

'*

uiuc

'

THE

HISTORY OF PEWS.

The
quested

subject

on

which the Committee

this

have re-

me

to
is

offer,

evening,

some

remarks to
the internal

the

Society,

one so interwoven with

arrangements of our churches, so directly hearing on

the reverent performance of our services, and so powerfully influencing,

not the taste alone, hut the

devoit

tional feelings of our worshippers, that, uninviting as

may

at

first

sight

appear,
I

we

are in

fact deeply into

terested in

it.

And
it,

was the more willing

lay able

before you whatever information I

to

may have been

procure on

because Pues^ have never yet found

Nor need we wonder at this. For what is the History of Pues, but the history of the intrusion of human pride, and selfishness, and indolence,
an historian.
into the worship of

God ?

a painful tale of our

down-

ward progress from the reformation

the view of a constant struggle
to

to the revolution:

make Canterbury
the introduction

approximate to Geneva, to assimilate the church to

the conventicle.

In

all

this contest,
it

of pues, as trifling a thing as

1

may

seem, has exer-

have ventured, in
it

this

word, to return to the original orthography,

retaining of course, in extracts, the

supported as

also is

by analogy;

spelling adopted

by the author quoted.

See below p.

C.

12

4
cised
ful

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

no small influence
effect
it

for

ill

and an equally powertheir extirpation.

for
is

good would
from the

follow
first

Hence

that,

moment

of our exist-

ence as a Society,

we have declared an
that

internecine war
as

against them: that we have denounced them

sores

eyetheir

and heart-sores

we have recommended
and

eradication, in

spite of all objections,

at whatever

expense

that

the retention of

we have never listened to a plea for one for we knew v/ell that, if we
;

could not destroy them, they would destroy us.

And
century,

herein

we have but trodden

sealed

in

the steps of

the holy Martyrs and

Confessors of the
the

seventeenth

who
and

Church's
" turned

cause

with
into

their
re-

blood
bellion,

against

those

who

religion

faith

into

faction."

They not

only de-

nounced in their writings, in their sermons, in their

charges, in their articles, these innovations
;

but against

more than one of tliem

tion

it

was made matter of accusaso.

and persecution that he had done

It has been

my

object, in the following paper,

to

connect the History of Pues with that of the various

changes which our Church has experienced

as the notices

and scanty

which I have been able

to collect

may
and

appear to some, I

may

assure the Society they have

little

been procured at the expense of no

with the
sacrifice

labour,

of no little time;

and

this too in

a place which affords every advantage for research.

is

It

evident that

all

we can now

learn of pues

must be

picked up on the one hand from the personal inspection

of

churches,
of

and on the other from a

articles,

careful

perusal

visitation

injunctions, party-pam-

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

plilets,

5
like

plays, trials, satires,

and publications of a

ephemeral character, only to be found in large and valuable libraries. I have looked through many hundred tracts of this nature in the Publick Library, and

have been obliged to consider myself well off

or

if

two
fresh

three

hours' research has helped

allusion.

me

to one

notice or

The

best collection of the

kind,
is

not only in Cambridge,

but perhaps in England,

to be found in the Library of Trinity College.

benefactor has, at great cost and trouble,

valuable
phlets,
collection

Some made an in-

of political

and theological pam-

put forth between 1638 and 1648.

for

And
as
:

these

he

has

the most part

other.

arranged so

to

throw

mutual light on each

For example

Does Par-

liament publish an ordinance for "seeking the

Lord"
in
in-

by a solemn

fast

on Christmas

Day

Bitterly

the next pamphlet does the Mercurius Kusticus

veigh against so unheard-of a piece of profanity.

the great parliamentary bookseller,

Does

" Michael Sparke,

" living in Green-harbour in the Little

publish

Old

Bailey,"

" Groana

of our Sion

or

a comfort for

" afflicted Protestants'" ?

and Richard Badger in

Leonard Lichfield of Oxford, Cornhill, the Parker and the

it;

Rivingtons of their day, hasten to reply to

in ''A
*'

the one

Rod for

the foole's hachf' the other in "

The

Devil at Geneva''

Such are the sources whence the

following pages have been compiled.

My
that
I

first

business will be to prove that pues were

not in use before the Reformation.

And
of

here I

know

am

opposed by the opinions

has,

some whose

judgment on such points

and that most deserv-

6
edly, great
it
is

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

weight amongst
us.

I
I

know

also

how hard

to prove a negative.

Yet
is

trust that I shall be

able to

make
;

the Society think with

me

on this point

at the outset

because

it

one of great importance in

the future progress of our enquiry.

in the first place,

Let us examine,

the arguments which

my

opponents

are

wont

to

produce.

They bring forward the use of the word ime-fellow from Richard III, Act iv. Scene 4
:

"

And

makes her pue-Jellow with others moan."

JVefitivai'd

From Decker's
'pue-fellowT

Hoe
made mone
to

" Being one day in church she

her

And from the Northtvard Hoe of the same author " He would make him a pue-fellow with lords." Now since they lay so much stress on these
passages, I will help

them
in

to another, pointed out to

me by Archdeacon
of
pues.
It

Hare, himself a determined enemy

vol.
ii.

occurs

p.

91

of the

new

edition

of Bishop Andrewes's

sermons in the Library

of Anglo-Catholick Theology

"

Look how Esau

and
as

speaketh,

'

I have enough,

my

brother,'

his 'pue-fellow

here,

Anima

habes,

Soul, thou hast enough," etc.

The sermon whence

Lent,

this is taken
is

was preached in

1596; and Richard III.

supposed to have
supporters of the

been written in 1591.

theory I
so

Now, say the

am

opposing, if the term pue-fellow was then

common

as metaphorically to

be applied to any close

companionship, pues must have been

earlier period.

known

at a

much

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

Now we
that
if

will

discuss
:

the true

meaning of
proves

this

curious word presently

this

at present I will only ohserve,

it

argument proves anything

are,

too

much.
a-days
;

Pues
yet

unfortunately,

common enough nowcall

not so common, but that to

a dear

friend a very intimate pue-fellow would

in the extreme.

be ridiculous
it

Therefore

if ^?^^

meant then what

does now, pues must have been in

use,

much more

general

and much more

generally

talked of than

now,

otherwise

the metaphor would have been almost un-

intelligible.

But

that

they

were

so

general

their

warmest advocates

will hardly assert.

to prove only

This compound then can be brought

thus

much

that the word pue existed before the

Re-

formation.

And

this I

most willingly allow.

The Latin word

iniijd,

podiurn, whence the

Dutch puye,
has,
as

and the English pue, are derived,

tell

need not

the Society,
is

two meanings.

The more

common
but
it

signification

the seat in

the theatre next

the orchestra, or in the amphitheatre next the arena;

also

means a heap of

stones.

In proof of this

latter interpretation, Facciolati

quotes a passage from

Columella, where that author makes podia synonymous

with lapidei suggestus.

And,

accordingly, the

word in
I

English has retained both meanings; though

only

know one
was
a

instance in which

it

bears the latter.

lu
III.,

Westminster^

as early as the time of

King Edward
of
certainly at

famous chapel,

called

The Chapel
is

Our
first

Lady

of the Pue.
;

The

title

sight puzzling

but when we read further that this

Newcourt's Repertorium,
s.

v.

g
clicapel

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

was built in a marshy
soil,

where huge heaps

of stones

had
laid,

to be

thrown in before the foundation

to

could be

we

are naturally led

think of the

podium
Society
vincial

of Columella,

and

to

wish

for

some authority

for deriving the one from

the other.

And
in

this the

may

not be aware that

as

we have

the

pro-

word Pod,

applied to the heaps

for the

of stones

laid

by the side of the road

it.

purpose of mend-

ing

now bring forward some passages in which the word 2me is used, not, be it remembered, for a
I

will

single seat, but,

for a

row of

seats,

or bench'. I

The
met

earliest

use of the word with which

contract

have
seats,

occurs

in

of

1458,
is

to

make

called puying.

Here the term

is

explained for us.

My
"Of
Sir

next instance

from the parish-accounts of In 1509 this item occurs,

S. Margaret,

Westminster^

pew, Qs.
courtier,

Hugh Vaughan, Sd." And again,

for

Knight,
in

for

his

part of a

1511,

"Of

Knight the

his wife's

pew, 2*."

But
it

there were no

pues in our sense of the word in S. Margaret's church

till

after the fire of

London, when
of

seems to have
newly-erected
that

been

pued in imitation

the

then

churches of Sir C.

pues of

Sir

Wren; hence it follows Hugh Vaughan and Mistress

seats.

the

Knight
and the

must have been

I will bring you

'

down 130
last

years lower,
number

curious passage
p. 676,

is

quoted in the

(cxxi) of the British

Magazine,

from Piers Ploughman, where pues are mentioned: the context does not prove that the word here means seats, though there can be no doubt that it does.
^

Gent.

Mag.

lxix. p. 838.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

case
is

the same.

In The Life of
1682,

Dr
p.

Peter Heyhjn,
70,

hy George

Feruoii,

we

read,

that

the

Dean

of Westminster did on

the 8th

of

Fehruary,

1636, put in his claim for his seat in

a great pue.
this

He

was opposed by

Dr

Hcylyn, on the plea that

pue belonged
nons.

solely to,

Now
Dr

as

and was occupied by the Cathere never was any pue in the modern
is

sense
this
:

in that

abbey-church, the meaning

in

evidently

AVilliams,

addition to his
stall

decanal scat,
the row of

wished to possess himself of one

prebendal
stalls
;

in

an encroachment as vigorously as suc-

cessfully opposed

by

Dr

Heylyn'.

Advancing
of the
the

four years later,

we

find the

same use
Voice of

word.
in

In a scarce tract called The

the

Lord

I'emjde,

published

in

1640, and

giving an account of the strange accidents occasioned

by a

thunder-storm

which

happened on

the

Whit-

Sunday of that
tony, in

year, in the parish church

of S.
told

Anthat

Cornwall,
sitting

near Plymouth, we are

in

two women
overturned.

the Chancel in

one pue were

Now how
it is

a pue in our sense of the word

could

be upset,
further

not

easy to
it

understand

and

when we

remember that
it

was Communion
that

Sunday, and that

has

always been usual on

stalls)

day to have (when there are no

Chancel,
in

benches in the

which part of the church these women

were then
standing

sitting,

we can have no
is

difficulty in under-

how

the word

here to be taken.

Sixty nine years

afterwards,

1709,

we

that

is,

as

late

as

find

the word used in the same way.

^

In

See note A. at the end.

10
a pamphlet

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

published
that

year

under

the

title

of

The Chernhim with

on

the

flam'mg sword, or Hemarhs

Dr
:

Sachevereir s late

Sermon

hefore
is

the

Lord
had
the

Mayor and
passage

Aldermeii^ in S. Paid's,

the following

"been
" pews, " Pret

breaking

"If your Lordship and down the pulpit,

the Pret

Sir

Francis

overturning
crying out

brandishing the city-sword,

!

The

der
?

der
Who

there

had been some cause

middle of the

" for alarm." [p. 2.]

does not see, that the pues

here must mean

the

benches in the

Choir

For

to

upset the galilee, which bears some

distant resemblance to pues, had been a feat

somewhat

above the strength of his Lordship and Sir Francis

together.

Thus

have proved to you that

sense

for
:

350

years,
this

pue
even,

bore occasionally the

of bench

and

when by the common

introduction of square pues,

lost.

the sense was likely to be

It follows then, that

unless the advocates of ante-reformation pues have some

better

argument than the name,

itself.

their cause can hardly

support

And now
King Lear,
Edgar, as

to

return to the word pue-fellow.

In

which

was

probably

written

in

1605,

"poor
"fire

Mad Tom, says, "Who Tom? whom the foul fiend

flame;

gives any thing to

hath led through

laid

and through
can

hath

knives

under

"his pillow, and halters in his

I
all

pueT
this

Now
passage

no one,
(which

am

sure,

ever have read

the commentators

pass

over sicco pede)

without

thinking, while taking the last word in the sense of

a church-pue, that

it

was a very strange place

for the

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

foul

11

fiend

to deposit

a halter.

We

are further to reis

member
satire

that the whole of

Mad

Tom's character

on the pretended possession^ of John Darrell and

others.
tures,

In the

examination of these wretched creathat knives

we

find

and halters were

said

to

have been laid under their beds and in their

:

chairs.

Here we get near the meaning but still, as I before observed, pue never meant a chair, but a bench. Now, when we are told that to this day in some parts of England those large moveable seats in alehouses, which
have a back
wind, are

both above and below, to keep off the

;

called pues

and when we remember that

Edgar afterwards
and we pue
in
shall

says of himself,

"Wine

loved I deeply,

dice dearly," our chain of evidence will

be complete

have no hesitation in setting down the

an ale-bench, where a
;

the above passage as

halter

might well have been

pue having

laid

and pue-fellow

will

then mean a boon companion,

are solved; for

Now

our difficulties
lost this

for the

most part

sense, pue-fellow has of course fallen into disuse.

And
espe-

fond as Bishop Andrewes was of country words, there

is

no reason why he should not have used

this,

cially

when custom had given

its

it

a sense rather wider

than

original

meaning.
all

But
way

of course

arguments whatever must give

to facts.

If the advocates for early pues can point

out one clear and

undisputed instance, where such a

it

thing occurs before the Reformation,

will prove

much,
are

though not perhaps

'

so

much

as they assert.^
p. 37.

There

See

Illust.

Mon.

Bi-ass. part

i.

See note B. at the end.

]2

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

where pues may be found with Per-

instances, however,

pendicular or even Early Decorated work cleverly ve-

neered on to their sides

and
for

it

is

possible that such

may have been mistaken

Decorated pues.
But,

Perpendicular or Early

say our opponents,

our not finding ancient

;

pues proves nothing against their existence

they, like so

because
easily

much

other ancient wood-work,

may

have been destroyed.

ing to this hypothesis.

Let us look

at the case accord-

There were then two kinds of

accommodations

for worshippers,

wood-seats

and pues.

The

former

fell

into disuse

the latter increased and

multiplied.
served,

And

yet

it

is

the former which are pre-

and the

latter

which have perished

it

Finally, I will just allude, (and only just, since

will form

the subject of a

future paper)

to
;

an objecthe uni-

tion against all ante-reformation square pues

versal

custom of praying towards the

east,

which these

square boxes would have rendered a thing impossible.

we few words on the way

Let
us, before

consider the use of pues,

say a
ac-

in which worshippers were

commodated before the Reformation.

churches, and in some of early

In Anglo-Saxon
date,
is

Norman

for ex-

ample,

Compton

S. Nicholas, Surrey,

there

a stone

bench running round the whole of the

the east end. gregation
;

interior, except

This was probably occupied by the condoes not appear to have been at
so
strict

for there

that time in our

laity,

Church

a law against the

as

or even

women, entering the Chancel

there

afterwards was.

At

least such appears

the natural in-

ference from the 44th constitution of king Edgar, pub-

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

lished in a.d.

13

960:

"And we

ordain that no
is

woman

shall approach the

Altar while the Mass

implies
so.

being cele-

brated."

This of course

that at

any other

time a

woman might do

Judging from Angloon low,

all

Saxon illuminations, the

rude,

rest of the people sat

three-legged stools,

placed

dispersedly

over

the church.

And

probably no

immediate difference
;

was made by the Norman Conquest

have been accomplished.
(1240),
it
is

though from that

time the introduction of wood-seats appears gradually

to

In Bishop Grostete's

in-

junctions,

ordered, that the patron

in the Choir.

may

be indulged with a

stall

And

in the

twelfth chapter of a synod at Exeter, holden by Bishop

Quivil in the year 1287, we read as follows^

"

We

have

also

heard

that

the

parishioners
their
;

of

divers places do

oftentimes wrangle about

seats

in church, two or
arises
offices

more claiming the same

to

seat

whence
divine

great

scandal

the

church,

and the

are sore let and hindered: wherefore we decree,

that none shall henceforth call any seat in the church

his own, save
first

noblemen and patrons

but he who shall

enter shall take his place where he will."

notice I have found of church-seats
oc-

The next

curs in the year

1470; when an

action being brought

about a claim to a particular

seat,

a consultation was

issued to the Bishop of Hereford to take measures in

favour of the claimant

a consultation being an injunc-

Item audivimus, quod propter

sedilia in Ecclesia rixantur niultoties

parochiani, duobiis vel pluribus xinum sedile vindicantes

grave scandalum in ecclesiam oritur

ct

propter quod divinum sspius impeditur officium.

:

WiLKINS,

I.

128.

14
tion
to

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

the Ecclesiastical Judge to proceed notwith-

standing a previous prohibition.

And
tion
is

here I

may

observe, that very little informa-

to be gained

from the law reports of particular

cases like

the above.
:

They

divide themselves princi-

pally into two classes

one, where right of prescription

by occupation

for forty years is claimed, together

with

a proof that the seat has been, during that time, kept
in repair

by the claimant: the

urged, without the

other,

where the same

In the

right

is

latter

addition.

former case judgment has always been given for the

claimant
thorities
;

in the latter,

the

decision
;

of different aua
reference
to

has

been very different

as

Ayliffe's

Parergon,

or Burns' Ecclesiastical

Law,

will

soon evince.

In descending to the Reformation,

to

it is

necessary

remember how

different

was the then state of our

present condition.
;

parish-churches from

their

There

were no pues, as we have seen

no reading-desk, often

no pulpit

the old Altars for the most part in parishall

churches and in

cathedrals remained:

for

it

must

always be remembered that these, by the so often and

so

triumphantly quoted injunction of Queen Elizabeth,

were not ordered

lowed

only,

under certain

restrictions,

al-

to

be removed: in some instances a table stood

;

lengthwise at the east end

and in

others,

was brought

down

into the Chancel or

it

Nave, where even our present

In
this latter case;
it
;

rubrick permits

to stand.

Matins
in the

and Evensong seem

to

have been read from

former, I suppose that a lettern was used, being placed

where the priest could best be heard.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

I will

15

now endeavour
of

to trace historically the gragallery,

dual

intrusion

pue, reading-pue,

and the

other encumhrances of modern churches.

In king Edward's

first

Prayer Book, the Priest

is

ordered to be in the choir; but Bucer having declared

the
order an
act

of

high

treason

against
in

God,

the

injunction in the second places

him

such place of

the church, chapel, or chancel, as the people

hear.

may

best

In Archbishop Parker's Primary Articles

(1559)

we
pue.

find no traces of

any innovation in
first

practice.

Ten

years later occurs the

hint of a readingfor

Bishop Parkhurst, in his Visitation Articles

the diocese of Norwich (1569), orders,

" That in great churches where

all

the people can-

not conveniently hear their minister, the churchwardens

and

others, to

whom

the charge doth belong, shall proin

vide and support a decent and a convenient seat

the body of the church, where the said minister

sit

may

or stand,
all

and say the whole of the Divine Service

congregation

that

the
;

may

hear,

and be

edified

therewith

and that

in smaller churches there be

some

convenient seat outside the Chancel-door for that purpose.

Two

years later

(1571)

the Archbishop

of

York

orders that the Epistle

and Gospel be read from the

set of Articles,
is

pulpit^ where prayers are wont to be said.

In Bishop
^

Cox's

first

enquiry

is

It

seems doubtful whether this Avord

or whether
it

here used in the

common
as

sense;

refers to the reading-stand,

which had probably

yet acquii'cd no distinctive name.

16

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

pulpit, but nothing said of the reading-

made about the

pue (1573.)

Archbishop Grindal (1580) by his

first

question

shews that he knew of no such accommodation as a

reading-desk.

The
so,

minister here
to

is

simply ordered to
such
place

turn himself

and
as

stand in

of the

Church or Chancel,

the people

may

best hear.
built

Next^ year (1581) we read that a gallery was

by the North door of S. Leonard, Shoreditch.
It
tice

seems that, though as yet unauthorised, the praca reading-pue was becoming every

of employing

day more prevalent.

For

it is

distinctly recognised in

Harrison's description of England, prefixed to Holinshed's

Chronicle,

quoted in the 4th number of our

(p. 129).

Illustrations of

Monumental Brasses

" Finally

whereas there was wont to be a great partition between

the Choir and the body of the church,

now

it is

either

small or none at all: and to say the truth, altogether

needless, sith the minister saith his service
in the

commonly

body of the church, with

his face towards the

people, in a little tabernacle of wainscot provided for

the purpose."
Still,

the

first

act

by w^hich that innovation was

officially

sanctioned was the

Canon of 1603.
says

" It remained for

King James,"

a writer in

the British Magazine-,

"who
it

cannot be charged with

want of reverence

to the Altar, to

break the last con-

necting link between

and the Daily Prayers.

convocation in the beginning of his reign directed that

'

Newcourt, Vol.
Vol. XVI. p. 502.

I.

S, Leonard.

'

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

*a convenient seat should be

17
the
to

made
a

for
*

minister,'

and the sentence naturally concluded,

in.'

read

service

Thus the desk became

to

fixture:

prayers
:

were

read

the people, not prayed with them

and the

Altar, though treated with an affectation of respect at

Communion-time, ceased
was wont
to

to

be the place
tlie

'

where prayer

be made.'

Hence

attempt to pre-

serve its sacredness

fate

by decoration only experienced the

of every
felt."

attempt at expressing a sentiment no

longer
It

must however be remembered, that these

as

early

reading-pues faced East as well

West

the

enor-

mity of a pulpit towering up between the desk and

the Altar was not then thouo-ht
of. is

The
date.

earliest

pue I have yet seen^

just

of this
S.

It occurs in the

North Aisle of Geddington

Mary, Northamptonshire, and bears the following

scription
:

in-

Churchwardens.

William Glover.

Jhon Wilkie.
Minister

ThomaS

Jones, 1602.
at length, with

The
the
a

formality of inserting these

offices

names

borne by the parties mentioned, shews what

novelty a pue was then

thought in Northampton-

shire.

There
T. M.

is

another pue in the same church inscribed,

[/'.

M. M.

e.

Thomas and Mary Maydwell, who

it]

have a brass legend near

1604.

The next
forth his

year

(1605),

Archbishop

Bancroft

put
a

Primary

Articles.
=

Enquiry
S.

is

made about

C.

18

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

:

convenient reading-piie
other pues
:

but

no

notice

taken

about

whence we may conclude that Bancroft

of their existence as yet
;

knew nothing

or so thorough

a churchman could not have failed to expose them.

Two
tain
it

years afterwards (1607),

we

find from one of

Noy's reports, that an action was brought against cer-

Churchwardens

for

removing a pue, and cutting

in pieces.

And

judgment was given against them

In Kingstone

for

wantonly destroying it\

Still

the evil went on increasing.

is

next Lewes, Sussex,

date 1608.

a pue in the Chancel bearing

At

this

time the fashion prevailed of providing

the pues with locks.

precise hypocrite'
:

Bishop Earle

says,

of the 'she
place in hea-

" She knows her

own

ven as well as the pew she has a key

In I6l6^ a
of S. John,
'fair gallery'

to'."

was built in the church

part of the
benevolence:

Wapping, with
S.

of the mariners of the Royal James.

In 1620',

Mary-le-bow had square pues intro-

duced into the Nave.

This Church

is

a peculiar

of

I say nothing here of the loss of

it

room occasioned by the introduc-

tion of pues, because

them

which it is as narrow and inconvenient as possible, we must lose twenty per CENT, by their adoption in comparison with the room afforded by wood seats. I would also refer the reader to Archdeacon Hare's Primary Charge to the Archdeaconry of Lewes for some striking remarks as to the increased evil of which pues have been the cause.
in
^

forms the subject of the Appendix to this paper: clearly shewn, that manage them as we will, by making

Microcosmography.

Ed. 1786, p. 113.

S. John's.

Newcourt, Vol. Newcourt, Vol

I.

i.

S.

Mary.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

19

Canterbury, and Archbishop Abbott was no enemy to

puritanical innovations.

^The

steeple of S. James, Clerkenwell, falling

down

in 1623, destroyed,

among

other things, a gallery over

against the pulpit.

About the year 1624, in the last parliament of King James, the puritans, now making a vigorous exertion on all sides, seem first to have discovered how
mighty an agent
Storrington
for their

purposes pues might become.

In 1626^ we find some intruded on the Chancel of

S.

Mary, Sussex

the

Calvinian

Bishop

Carleton being probably too deeply engaged in defend-

ing the Synod of Dort, and attacking

to give

Dr
Yet

Montague,
it
is

his attention to

this

subjeet.

re-

markable that Walter Mattock", the then

afterwards

rector,

was

Confessor for

the

Church:

whence we
orthodox

may

perhaps gather
at this

how few even

of the

clergy appear

time to have foreseen the evil

which they were thus sanctioning.

In the next year (1627),
Herts,
clerk's

at

Ashwell
earliest

S.

Mary,
a
is

we
pue

find,

and
This

it

is

my

example**,

built.

village, it

may be

observed,
;

situated on the very borders of the Diocese

for

Dr

Mountain, who then

an innovation.

filled

the Chair of London, was

not the Prelate to allow, had he

known

it,

of such

Wimborne Minster, in much disfigured with pues.

*

Dorsetshire,

was in 1628

Newcourt,
C.S.

S.

James.
'

Walker's

Sufferings, p. 312.

C.S.

20

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

In 1630\ a very costly gallery was built in
S.

Peter

le

Poor,

Ijondon

and the same year another

gallery, with

a cross seat for catechising children, was

erected in S.
^

Leonard's, Shoreditch.
a

There

is

pue in Steeple Morden, CambridgeIn this year Weever

or
says,

shire,
*'

bearing date 1631.

Many monuments
a fashion

are covered^ with seats

to
sit

pews,

made high and

in,

easy for parishioners

or sleepe

of no long continuance, and worthy of

reformation."

*Next
ton,

year, 1632, a gallery

was built

at

GeddingJNIorritt

and another by Richard Turner and John

Silver Street.

in S. Olave,

^Clymping, Sussex, has a pue dated 1634.

Hitherto,
all

the pues I have mentioned had been

single ones, scattered here

and there about the church.

But
S.

in

1634, Bishop's Castle S. John, Salop, was pued

:

throughout

and

in

the neighbouring parish of Stoke

as

Milburga two covered pues, or dovecotes,

called,

they

were

were erected.
first

In 1635, the
pues by
a

vigorous opposition was

made

to

Matthew Wren, then man whose name will be to all Churchmen

Bishop of Hereford
a Krij/xa

s aei

He might

perhaps have been made acquainted

with the innovations in his Diocese to which I have

just alluded.

In his Articles,

(iii.

10) he asks,

or

Whether doth any private man or men of his their own authority erect any pews, or build any
"
^

Newcouut,
C. S. C. S.

S. Peter.
^
'

^ ^

Fi'm.

Mon.

701.

See also Gloss. Arch.

.

i.

IGl.

c. s.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

21
or seats

new

seats in

your church ?
at

And

what pews

have been so built?

whose

procurement,

and by

whose authority?

And

are all the seats

and pews so
kneel
to the

ordered that they which are in them

in time of prayer,

may
up

down
Holy
the
either

and have their

also

faces

Table?

Are

there

any kind

of seats
?

in

Chancel above the Communion Table

side

or on

up even with
again, "
in your

it?"
closets or close

And
pews
I

Are there any privy

(like

church ?"

those,

suppose, which

have just mentioned at

so loftily

Stoke Castle.)

"Are any

pews

made

that they do any

way hinder the

prospect of the church or Chancel? so that they which

be in them are hidden from the face of the consrregation ?"

And

in
is

his

Articles for

i^orwich, put

forth

the

next year,

the following addition

tlie

" Is the middle alleye of the church, or any of

other alleyes or
iles,

or the body of the Chancel built

upon

(in

any part thereof) in the setting up pews or any there adjoining?"

church?

seats, or for the enlarging of

About
*'

galleries

he asks,

(iii. 13),

What

galleries are there in your

How
?

are

they

placed,

or

in

what part of your church

and by what authority?

When
all

were they

built,

Is

not the church large enough without them to receive

your own parishioners?

Is

any part of the church

your parish

hidden or darkened thereby, or any in

annoyed or offended by them

?"

Let us

for a

moment

leave our chronological order,

to see what was the

fate of these Articles.

Nothing

22

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

seems ever to have galled the puritans more than theit

appearance at a time when the downfall of the Church

was confidently expected by them.

bold a vindication
of
original

That

so clear

and

practices

should then

be put

forth,

appears equally to have astonished and

easy

perplexed the innovators, already anticipating an

victory
ov
jraiav

yap
'

<t>9

(puyrj

efpv/JLVovv creixvov
es

EXkr]ve<i

Tore,

oXX

yua^j^y opjuwvreg

ev\^v^M dpaaei.

ed.

And On

the revenge taken on them was equally mark-

July 20, 1640, a charge of high crimes and

misdemeanours was exhibited by the Commons before

the House of Lords against
drington
charges,

Wren

Sir

Thomas Wid-

conducting the

prosecution.

Among
many

other

one was that he

had oppressed
at

poor

parishes by

making them,

a vast expense, remove

the paes from their churches.

Wren
nian,

was by the House of

The doctrine of Bishop Commons declared Armiall

and

heretical,

and himself stripped of

his

preferments,
for ever.

and made
of

incapable of holding any other

The
rity

exertions

Wren, seconded by
for

the authoprevailed;
I

of Laud,

seem

a time

to

have

many open wood-seats of this may mention one in Foulmire,

date

date

now

existing.

in this county, bearing

1635\ and one

at S. Cuthbert's",

York, 1637.
for

In 1636, I find the word Desk used

time, as
'

the

first

we now
c.s.

so

commonly use
.
.

it,

in the
2

sense of

c^g^

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

reading-pue.

23
called

This

is

in

sermon

Profano
S. Peter's,

Mastixy by John Swan, Rector of Duxford

in this county, preached at Sawston,

in a visitation of

the Archdeacon of Ely.

Wren
ceeded

being
in

translated to

Ely,
his

Montague
primary

suc-

him

Norwich.

In

articles'

(1638) he demands:

"Are

the seats and pews built of an uniformity?

or do they hinder

and encumber

their neighbours

in

hearing God's

Word, and performing Divine

(i.

Service?'*

With

respect to galleries, he asks,

10),

" Is your church scaffolded any where, or in part ?

Do

these scaffolds so

made annoy any man's

seat,

or

hinder the light of any w^indows in the church?"

But pues and

where.
those
in

galleries

were now prevailing every

In a pamphlet entitled, true relation of sad and lamentable accidents which happened
the

and about
"

parish church of Withycomhe, in

the Dai'tmoors, Oct. 21, 1638,

we read

(p. 7),

One

Mistress Ditford sitting in the same

pew
sit-

with the minister's wife, was hurt, but the maid

ting near the door of the
ever the church
read, p. 9,

pew had no harm."

throughout
;

Howfor

was not pewed

seats

we

"

Some

in the body of the church

were turned upside down."

And
find
(p.

in
4),

the before-quoted
that

Voice of the Lord, we

suf-

William Sargent, one of the

and

ferers,

was kneeling at the east end of the Chancel,

with his back to the
east,

in

a pue,

his

face

to the

Holy Table.
* Reprinted with a

Memoir and Notes, Camb.

1841.

24

THE HISTORY OF PEWis

In a Copy of the Proceedings of some Divines ap"

pointed hy the Lords

colii's,

to

in

JVestminster^
in

meet at the Bishop of Linamong the innovations which

one
is,

they mention
galleries

discipline,

the demolishing

where they have been

built,

and forbidding

the erection of
afterwards

new

ones.

These divines were Bishop,

Bishop
Worcester,

Archbishop, AVilliams, Archbishop Ussher,

afterwards
of

Dr

Prideaux,

Dr

Ward, afterwards Bishop

afterwards Bishop

of Salisbury,

Dr Dr

Brownrigg,

of Exeter,

Dr

Hacket, afterwards
Featly.

Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and

At
in

this

time, however. Bishop

Williams bestirred

himself against the innovation of pues.

For we
^

are told

of conscience^ hy Anthony Cade, B.D. Cambridge, 1639, that he

removed the pues from the chapel
stituting in their
at
;

A Sermon very necessary for the times

place wooden great
seats

Euckden

sub-

the remaining

description

of what that

would

we could say

good

Prelate
The
;

did, is very interesting:

"

cloisters fairly

pargetted and beautified with

comely copartments

and inscriptions of wise counsels

and sentences
beyond

the windows enriched with costly pic-

tures of Prophets, Apostles,

all

and Holy Fathers

and

the chapel for God's immediate service most

beautifully furnished with

Bibles,

new
gilt

seats,

windows. Altar,
covered,
;

and other sacred books,

silver,

costly

and and
and

embossed with

and
of

with gold

candlesticks
silver,

and
with

other

ornaments
organs

bright

shining

stately

curiously

coloured,

gilded,

enamelled."
It appears, if

we may believe the Royalist

writers,

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

that pues were used at this time

25
for

by the Puritans

purposes

very

different

from those of devotion.

In

a play, perhaps written by Brome, the cavalier, and

called,
if I

mistake not, Love's

High Court
a kiss
I

of

Comto

mission, the
mistress,

lover wishing to obtain

says,

from his

she

" Fie,

sir

would have you

know

that

we

are not

now

in our pew."

In 1641,

Dr

Pocklington,

already hated
SabhatJi,

by the
his

Puritans for his

Sundmj no

published

Altare Chrhtianum.

In the second edition of this

is

work, he inserted the following passage, which

to be

not

found in the

first

"
tive

The

practice of piety

was then

(in

the

PrimiSa-

Church) performed in kneeling

before

their

viour and Redeemer.

The

stools they

had were either

fall

none,

or

none but

fallstools,

to

come and

down
is,

and kneel before the Lord.

need not
step
say,

[This

etymology

I
to

more pious than

correct.]

Ambition

up

into the

highest rooms and

seats,

and there
to

to enclose

and enthronize themselves, was confined

Pharisaical feasts

and synagogues

holy

men and good

Christians had no such custom in those times

no such state and ease

nor

sought
and ex-

did the Church of God.

The Churches
ness

of

God

did and do detest the profanein

close

that

is

and may be committed

alted pews."

This book was licensed by Dr Bray, domestic chaplain to

Archbishop Laud, a man mentioned favourably

in a letter written to that holy JMartyr by

Dr

]Mon-

taguc,

v.'hen

Bisliop

of

Chichester.

Bat

afterwards
the

changing his principles, he wrote

Sermon of

26

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

1641,
professedly
in

Blessed Sacrament,
Pocklington's

answer to
is

Altare Christianum.
:

At

p. 52,

the

following sentence

"

He

(Pocklington) saith that close

and exalted pews

the

are profane,

and were detested by

is

Church of God.
conceit.''

Which

but his foolish and

fond

The end

of
it

Pocklington's

history

is

soon

told.

Feb. 12, 1641,

was ordered by the House of Lords

publickly

that he should be deprived, his two books

burnt

by the common hangman, and himself made

incapable of preferment, and forbidden to go to court.

Soon

after,

says

Walker ^ he died of

grief.

We

have seen then that pues were supported by

puritans and attacked by churchmen.

We
it

must now
is

enquire into the reasons of this fact; for

a mis-

take to suppose that

it

was only the love of comfort

and

ease,

and a pharisaical desire of separating themthe beauty of God's

selves

from their neighbours, which led the former to

uphold,

and

only a zeal for

houses which
besides

induced the latter to denounce them;

there were others

these more obvious causes,

as substantial at

work on both

sides.

It

must be remembered, that

and when a presentment
serious,
for

in an age

when the

Bishops'
gent,

Injunctions to Churchwardens were so strin-

contumacy involved

consequences so

that

those

who were

deter-

mined on disobeying
willing as
ence.

episcopal authority were at least

to conceal their disobedi-

much

as possible

And
so.

pues afforded them an excellent method

of doing

Sufferings, p. 136.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

27

I shall mention four of the principal uses of the

Church

at which puritans took offence

in all of

which

high pues would form a very convenient

I.

shelter.

Nothing gave more

Canons

offence

to

the

puritans
injuncin

than the injunction of Queen Elizabeth,

tion repeated in our

that
the

an

"whenever
of

any
shall

lesson, sermon^ or otherwise,

name

Jesus

be in the church pronounced, due reverence be made

of all persons,

young and

old,

with lowness of courtesy

as there-

and uncovering of the heads of the men-kind,

unto doth necessarily belong, and heretofore hath been

accustomed."

The
1561.

first

injunction
is

to

this

effect

occurring after
S.

the Reformation,

that of the

Synod of

Asaph,

It runs thus

" In time of service, read or sung in the church,

so

often

as

the

name

of Jesus, being our

shall be

Saviour,

shall be rehearsed,

due reverence

made

of all

persons,

young and old." During the whole of Queen Elizabeth's

:

reign the

point was in dispute

and in

spite of the solid answers

given by Hooker and Whitgift to the

of this
pious

calumniators
to

custom,

they
I6IO,

appear

rapidly

have

gained strength.

In

an elaborate attack was

made on
under the

it

by Henry Jacob, a puritanick minister,

of

title

plain and clear Exposition of the

Oxford, by name
a

Second Commandment.

A
of

parochial minister

at

Giles

Widdowes, having written

defence

of the custom,

Prynne, in 1630, sent out a pamphlet under the name

Lame

Giles his haltings;

or

a brief survey of

28

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

Giles JVidoivs Confutation of no bowing at the

Name
least

of Jesus.
information,

From
that

this

tract

we

incidentally gain the

daily

service

was used in at

many

of the parish-churches at Oxford.

side
;

Burton followed on the same

ing his book, Jesu worship.

impiously

call-

From
in Essex,

a visitation sermon preached at Brentwood,

by John Elberow,

M. A.

before Archbishop

Laud, Feb. 28, 1636, and afterwards published with

the
title

of

Euodias and

Sijnttjche,

it

would appear

that the female part of puritanical congregations were

especially obstinate in
this matter.

In a

dialogue
fanatic,

called

Cer^taine

Grievances^

by a

vehement

Lewis Hews, we

find the following

Gentleman.
of the
bodies,

"

Why

do the Bishops make an idol

name
and
to

of Jesus, by causing

men

to

put off

their hats whenever

it is

bow their named?

of God,

^''Minister.

Because they mistake the

*

Word

where

it

is

written,

At

the

name

of

Jesus every

knee

shall bow, &c.'"

The Bishops now

In 1641,

interfered

with their Articles.

Edmund

Heeves, in his Explanation of the

says, [p. 131],

most sacred Catechism of the Church,

speaking of schismaticks

"When
their

as

the greater part of the

congregation

do duly reverence the Lord Jesus, they will express

contempt of the most sacred Church-law in the

very face of the congregation, unto the high dishonour

of the

Lord, and

the

scandal of

all

such

as

are

assembled in God's Holy Place.

The Holy
set forth for

Father-

hood

in their Articles

which thev

church

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

officers' use,

29:

do divinely admonish hereof: but where are

they which have care and zeal to take notice

their duty, and who not?"

who do

And
as
it

again he says,

"But

now many men and women have

tom
in

that most holy cus-

open defiance, so

is

not meet for men-

tion."

In this same year (1641), Aug.

exhibited against

6,

Articles

were

Dr

Beale, Master of S. John's Col-

lege, in this University, before the

House of Commons.
it

The

fourth of these was, that at S. Mary's he said

sin of

was a
Jesus.

damnation not

to

bow

at

the

name of
and
little

However, Parliament thought otherwise

more than a month

poral bowing at the borne.

after

taking cognizance of this

charge, (Sept. 9, 1641), issued an order that all cor-

Name

of

Jesus be henceforth

for-

The matter
the next year

did not, however, stop here.

find Sir

For

in

we

E. Dering, himself a deterto

mined puritan, courageously protesting

" For

the

Housed

my
:

part, I do

humbly ask pardon of the House,

to

and thereupon take leave

resolution
I will

give

you

do bodily reverence to

my resolute my Saviour,

and that upon occasions taken at the mention of His

Saving

Name

Jesus."
all

To mention

the ministers

against

whom
Earl

this

was made matter of accusation, before the

of

Manchester and the Committee

of the

for

the Propagation
the
greater

Gospel,

would be

to

recapitulate

part of Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy.

'

The

re-

Spfeches, p. 85.

30

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

during
this
;

mains of the Anglican Church

period
late
as

gloomy

resolutely

persisted
find

in

the practice

and

as

1653',

we

John Allington, afterwards

for saying

Rector of Leamington Garstang, ejected

he

would be torn in pieces sooner than give up bowing

at the

Name

of Jesus.
for

In

1659 was published, apparently

In
this, curiously

the

first

time, a treatise by Fox, the heresiarch of

Quakerdom,
(for

On Bowing.
it is

enough, he seems

not easy to understand his language) to leave the

matter indifferent.
In l66l, the practice, as might naturally be
pected,
ex-,

again

prevailed
it

for

the

ever
in

mischievous
his
to

Prynne thought
Examination of
violently against

worth his

while,

Pacific

the
it.

Common Prayer-book,

declaim

Bishop Lancy, of Peterborough, in 1662;

bishop Juxon in 1663
in
;

Arch-

Bishop Rainbow^ of Carlisle,

;

1665

Bishop Turner, of Ely, in 1686

Revolution,
the practice

and even

after
all

the

Bishop Patrick, of Ely, 1692,

;

enjoin

since

which time
the subject,
it is
still

have not

found any express

course

order

on

though of
as binding

the

Canon which

orders

as ever. I

have dwelt at some length on this point, because

it

I wished you to be aware of the influence

had on
sur-

the erection of pues.

prised to find,
ticles,

And we
Trinity

shall not

now be
at

in a

copy of Bishop Montague's ArCollege

...

preserved in

Library,

the

side of the question,

^

"Do

they

bend or bow

at the

The Good Samaritan, 1673,

p. 25.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

glorious, sacred

81
fol-

and sweet name of Jesus?" the

colcle

lowing note in an old hand, ^^Wee

not presente,

by reason of if high and close pewes^

II.

Another thing much objected by the Puritans

at the

was the injunction to stand

Glo?ia Patri.
till
:

The

Society

may

not be aware, that

the Restodurine:

ration the use

of our

Church was

this

the

reading of the Psalms, the minister stood while the

people sat, the latter however rising at the Doxology.

Bastwick, while

imprisoned

after

his

censure

in

Jersey, wrote a most scurrilous pamphlet on this subject, called

BustwicUs Litany, wherein he

therefore
first

says, (p. 11),

"The Churchwardens must

their
strict

inform about

beggarly rudiments, and for that they have a

charge given them to take notice about capping,

ducking, standing up and kneeling

porridge
!"

a plaguy deal of

"

And Montague, in the next year, Do they stand in the Doxology against
after every

asks, (v.

14),

the oppugners the Primitive

of the Trinity, which was repeated in

Church

Psalm, and ought

to be so in ours?"

At

the Restoration, the Convocation at

York

re-

commended

to that of Canterbury the reintroduction of

this practice,

and

its

extension to

all

the Psalms; and

this is the authority for our present practice, as well as for our not rising at the Gloria in the Litany,

which

was then specially excepted.

as

The practice of rising at the Doxology only was, we are all aware, maintained among ourselves at S.
till

Mary's,

within the present year.

Its origin appears

to have been quite

unknown

to those

who then

inter-

32

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

:

ested themselves in the question

or

we should not have

for the

heard the confident assertions that the use was not half
a century old
:

that

it

was originally introduced

it

convenience of marking, or that

was the result of

a compact between the Vice-Chancellor and the

Under-

graduates,

a compact about
pues,
as

as real as that

which plays

so conspicuous a part in

some theories of the origin of

by

government.

Now
name
I

we

are

told

Dr

Udall, whose

shall presently

bring before you, were

much

esteemed as sheltering from observation those who would

not, in this point, obey the law of the

Church.

III.

third reason for the erection of pues

may

be found in the injunction of the Canons of 1640,

about bowing towards the Altar.

A
by

most elaborate defence of

Lawrence,

this

custom was made

Dr

chaplain to the king, in a

7,

sermon
after-

preached at court by him, on Feb.

1640; and

wards published by his Majesty's special command.

Edmund
calling the

Heeves, two years

:

later,

says in the book

before quoted

"

The Divine Wisdom

of the Church

Sacred

Table God's Board, doth give us

to understand that that is to be accounted the peculiar

scat

of
it

God
unto

within

the

wards

God

there

and therefore toTemple we are to make low obeisance,

;

whenever we come into God's House

as the

to

pray.

Also

Chair of State

is

always to be honoured, though

the Person of the Royal Majesty be not seen therein,

so
is

God's Board always

to

have due reverence, and

is

God,

Who

is

there perpetually,

always to be pro-

strated unto."

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

33

The next

year a bitter pamphlet was written against

this practice as introduced into the church at Chester,

by John Ley, Rector of Great Bud worth, and

bendary of that cathedral.
yet bowed

a pre-

He

says

(p.

26), " I never

head either

to,

or towards,

the Altar,

or

the Holy Table."

This unfortunate

man was

one of

the very few cathedral clergy

tion fell

who

in time of persecu-

away; he became afterwards a member of the

for the

Committee

Propagation of the Gospel.

It

is

remarkable that the orthodox clergy were acidolatry,

cused

by the Romanists of

in conforming to
to the Altar,

this custom.

We,

said they, in

bowing

adore the Corporal Presence of our Saviour.

You, who
work
on

believe in no such doctrine, are worshipping the

of your

own hands.

Hence

arose that

distinction
to

the part of the Anglican's of bowing

the Altar, which

and toward

we may have noticed

in

some of the

passages quoted above.

About
same
hamists.
extracts

this

time,

we
of
will

read, with

reference

to

the

subject,

much

Durhamlsts and Anti-Durbe best explained by some

The terms
I shall

read to you from a pamphlet, called

Ccmterhiirif s Crueltie, written by the "infamous Peter

Smart," Prebendary of Durham.

I

Nor do

I think that

am

at all

wandering from

my

proper subject in bring-

ing these passages before you,

bearing so closely as

they do on the ancient arrangement of our churches.

And

may
as

add, that

great light

is

thrown on the

whole matter by a ground plan of Brancepeth church,

Durham,
3

arranged by Bishop Cosin, which

is in

the

Society's Portfolio.

34

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

"This Cousin,"
of
altars,

says Smart, "hatli defiled the church

Durham, and many

for

and the service therein with images and

superstitious
all

and idolatrous ceremonies

as

he hath done
this

other places where he had to do;

so

and

cause being

wicked a beast

(a little

specimen of Puritan courtesy), and so cruel in persecuting me, he hath been greatly in Bishop Neale and

Bishop Laud's favour."

in his petition, presented Nov. 3, 1640, Again " After the death the House of Commons, he says
: :

to

of Bishop James, Bishop Neale coming to the See of

Durham, the then Dean and Prebendaries of that Cathedral Church cast out the Communion Table of the said Church, and erected an High Altar at the east end
of the Chancel of marble stones, with a carved screen

most gloriously painted and gilded, which

200.

cost

about

And

they bought for Ws. one Cope found in

a search after
Trinity,

Mass

Priests embroidered with the

;

Holy

and other images

and another Cope worth and May-games,

at the

about ten groats, which had been a long time used by

the youth of

Durham

in their sports

to

a very fool's coat

both which Copes they used

D. Cousin

administration of the

Holy Communion at their Altar. To which Altar themselves both did, and forced others
use unreasonable frequent bowing.
offici-

ated thereat with his face to the East, and back to the people.
to

They did

take away the

Morning Prayer,
resort,

which about 200 persons did alway

at

six,

and altered the same into singing with instruments.

They
and

did likewise

set

up

fifty-three

glorious

images

pictures."

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

35

In the speech of Fr. Rous, Esq. at the impeach-

ment of Archbishop Laud, IMarch

(p. 7)
:

16, 1640,

we read
come

"

The

Altar, Copes, etc. cost more than 2000.

choristers in their

They caused two

from the
in their hands,
dles
to

surplices to

West end

of the Chancel with lighted torches

the Altar,

who did
torches
;

light the can-

upon the same with

their

which done,

they returned backward with

many

bowings."

And
men

further on

"

The Font

they removed from

the ancient usual place in the Chancel (a true speciof puritanic antiquity), and placed
is it

out of the

Chancel, where Divine Service

never read."

In

Short Treatise of Altars, written by this

author in l629j he speaks of " corruptions which hav-

ing begun at
over all the

Durham, have
Cathedral and
:

since

spread themselves

Collegiate

churches

and

colleges of this realm

yea,

and many parish-churches

organs,

have

set

up

Altars,

images, and

where they

never were since the days of

King

Philip and

Queen

Mary."

A
for

little

further on,
seats.

we have the word pues used

stalls

or

Bishop Cosin, says Smart, would

" say to others,

even gentlewomen of the best rank,

sitting in their pues.

Can ye not
it

stand,

you lazy sows?

when the Nicene Creed was sung."

In reading these extracts,
that
is

right to

remember

many
;

of the charges were solemnly denied by

so S.

Dean
him

Cosin
his

and

notorious

was Smart's character, that

told

counsel,

John, a vehement puritan,

plainly before the

House of Lords, "I am ashamed

3

of you and of your cause."

36
It

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

appears, however, that about this time the pre-

sent practice of kneeling

down on taking

a seat, was

beginning to supersede that of bowing to the Altar.

In a volume of Sermons preached on Sundays
Saints Days, hy P.

and

misted, Curate at Ujjpingham,

1636, the author says, p. 222:

object,

"But

I hear another

will

not presently kneeling down in

my

seat

when

come into the church, and saying a private

up a private ejaculation unto the Lord,
without
first

prayer, lifting

serve the

turn,

bowing down and pros-

trating myself unto the

Altar?"
it is

In the Director ij, 1644,

enter

ordered,

"Let

all

the assembly,

not

irreverently,
seats

but in a grave

and seemly manner, taking their

and places with-

out any bowing, to one place or another."

This

practice

was not

generally

revived

at

the

Hestoration.
shall
for

The
their

Convocation order,

1662:

"They

make

humble address

to

Almighty

God
ser-

His Divine blessing and assistance upon the

;

vices to be performed

and His gracious acceptance of

1682,
the following

the same."

As

late,

however,

as

I find

passage in a tract called.

Of

the worship
(p.

of

God

to-

ivard the
"

Why

Holy Table or must we make

?

Altar,
courtesy

108)

the church

can

and then

fall

we not stay till down to our prayers?"

bowing
is,

when we come into we come to our pews,

informed, kept up
;

The
in

practice of

am
I

the Cathedral Church at Oxford

if

and at Hereford
not
mistaken,

and Canterbury, the Canons,

are

am

bound

to it

by oath.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

Bishop Montague had asked in
"

37
1638
(viii. 11),

Do

all

your parishioners, when they are to receive

the

Holy Communion

come

to the

Lord's Table?
sit
still

And

not (after the most contemptuous and unholy usage

of some, if
their seats

men

did but rightly consider)

to

in

and pews,

have the Blessed Body and

to seek

Blood of

his

Saa^our go up and down

them

all

the church over?"

And

had intended

to give the

Society some illustrations of the method in which this " unholy usage" bore on the famous order of Archbishop

Laud, that
to

all

the east end.

Communion Tables should be removed Time however forbids; and I must

subject of pues:

hasten to introduce to your notice a curious tract written

in

1641,
it is

on the express

from
apo-

which, as
logy
for

nearly unknown, I shall

copious
extracts.
:

make no
It
is

reading you

called

TD nPEnON EYXAP12TIXON
nesse:
people's
of,

Communion Comeliconveniency
sight.,

wherein

is

discovered
to the

the

of'

the

drawing nigh

Tahle in the
Supper.

there-

ivhen

they receive the

Lords
it

With

the

great unjitnesse of receiving

the novelty

in Peices in

London, for

of High and Close Pewes. Sy Uphraim Udall, D.D., Rector of S. Austi?i's, London.
In a copy of this Author's Noli

me

tangere, in Tri-

nity Library,

is

the following IMS. note, written in a

very old hand

"This Pamphlet was

Hector of S. Austin's.

written

by

IMr E.

Udall,

He

was much followed and

the
rebellion,

admired

by the puritans

before

and

esteemed a precious

man among

them.

But when he
to

perceived whither they were driving, he began

dc-

38

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

and
sacrilege.

clare pretty freely against rebellion

He
to

therefore published this

and some other pamphlets

stop their career.

insufferable truths,

But
fit

as they contained a great

many

indeed

to

convict,

but not to

reclaim

them,

this

stung them so severely that they

resolved to be avenged on him, notwithstanding all his

former moderation.

They
;

therefore not only deprived,

but plundered him

turning his aged and lame wife

out of doors, with particular circumstances of inhumanity

and barbarity."

account,
tury.

Walker gives a nearly similar and White makes him No. 23 of his Cen-

In the very outset of the Tract we are informed

of another reason

why

the puritans held pues in esteem.

in their pues

Those who received the Holy Communion

escaped the notice of every one

but the clergyman,

;

with respect to standing or kneeling

well know, being more odious
to
;

nothing, as

we

them than the enand

if

forcement of the latter position

the clergyman

presented them, nothing was easier than to accuse him

to the

Commons of malignancy. The following extracts throw,

I think,
;

much

light on

the internal arrangements of churches

and the church

of S. Tydecho, Mallwydd, in Merionethshire and

Montto

gomeryshire,

is

an instance of a similar arrangement

now

the

then Rector

having

refused

obedience
disposition

Archbishop Laud's mandates, and the

of

the seats having remained unaltered from his day.

The

Holy Table here

and
is

stands in the middle of the Chancel,

all sides

surrounded on
p.
2,

by pues.
far

In

l)r

Udall laments how

we

arc

dege-

THE HISTORY OF
neratecl

I'EWS.

39
by a late

from receiving, in London

of building the pues
;

especially,

new kind
closer

so

much higher and

than heretofore

and

asserts that thirty years be-

fore (i.e.

1611) this innovation was only beginning to

be thought of;

and that even then

it

had very

little

infected country parishes,

and was quite unknown

in

AYales.

Speaking of the arrangements adopted in his own

church, he says,
" I set

up a square

rail

in

the Chancel in

time

Communion only; and that within the pews that were made to fold down for that use, excepting the east end, where the pew w^as removed before I came
of

by

this

means

received a double

row of communi-

cants one within the other near the Table in a very

small Chancel, to the

time, in the

number

of forty or fifty at one

pew and
is

at the rails."
:

His plan

as follows

"In
be

the administration of the

Communion

it

may

be wished that the best provision that can be devised

made

to

have the greatest number of Communicants

one time at
the
table,

together at

in

sight

thereof

and within hearing of the minister, that can be received

thither.

And when
and another

they have received that they

may
have

depart,

company

come

in

their
till

room,

and

so after

them

a third and a fourth,

all

received,

which may be done in a very small Chancel

sit

by providing that they may

a double row of com-

municants, the pews being made square about the Chancel,

and one of them before the other;

as

it

is

and

hath been used in the church of Black Friers, London,

40
only

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

with this difference
:

That whereas that church

it

hath the inner pews immoveable, because

that ground
for
buriall,

useth not
in

which

is

the

case

other

churches, the inner pews

may be made
is

so as they

may
the

be removed when the ground

as

to

be used for buriall,

all

now
all

is

practised in

many
so

churches, where

pews of the church are

and
of

ordered, that any of them,

are

them

successively,

taken up,

and the

ground used.

And

this order of a double

row of pews

may
is

be in any Chancel of indifferent greatness, that

will bear

two rows of pews.

And

where the Chancel

one row
provided

so small,

and the room

so strait, that only

of pews

may

stand continually, there

may be

a moveable Rail or Wainscot, to be used only at the

Communion time, and placed within Minister may give the Communion
at the
rail or

the pews, that the

to

them that

are

wainscot, and to those also that be in

it

the pews behind them, as

places by

hath been used in some

the care and device of some ministers, that

desiring the benefit and edification of their people by

seeing

and

hearing

and communicating
in
this

together

as

members of one body, have

are
at

manner brought
forty

them together about the Table, where

or fifty

one time together, about and near the same,

the pews going round about the Chancel, and a rail

within the

pews

for

the

Communicants
is

to
till

kneel

at,

which

after the

Communion
so

removed

the next

Communion.
Again, he
vided in to so

And
says,

from time to time."

is

"The Communion

rent and di-

many

single societies of twos

and threes

as there be pewfulls in the

whole church.

And

there-

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

fore is it like private
if

41

Masses, though they do receive,

they receive
close,

it

scattered here

and

there,

and are

shut up
the

that they cau neither see nor hear until

minister

come

to

the pews

where they

sit

in
far

which sometimes there are divers pews, and they

distant one from the other, in which there are but one
or

two Communicants in the corner, and one or two in

the other corner, and others up in the gallery, and so

to

have the JMinister to hunt up and down to search

out.

them

And

think shortly,

the

Sacrament of

the Lord's Supper will get up into the steeple

among

the Belfs with us, as the Sacrament of Baptism hath

heretofore done

"
self,

among the Papists. One single Communicant alone

all

in a

pew by himis

and rent from

the rest of the Communicants,

and

receiving, as it were, in a

room alone,

as it

is

ia housling of the sick

P.
tofore
6.

among

the Papists."

"

They
have

are built higher

and larger than here-

they

been, fitter

it

may

be

for

greater

attention that the ancient pews, which were not above

the middle of the body,

and exposed men's eyes

to

more roving and wandering than those high pews, which

arc

more
P.
7.

private."

"

Draw

near and receive.

Intending, whe-

ther the
or

Communion were

administered in the Chancel

in the

body of the church, the Table should stand

midst, and the

Communicants come near about

it,

which

notwithstanding, was most commonly done in the Chancel for

communicating in pews,
first

so generally as of late,

is

but a late usage, and at

was practised but by some

it

few particular ministers, as they supposed

most con-

42
veiiient tliat all

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

might be nearest together
to see

and

hear

which in some places where the pews were low,

little

and the Chancel

or inconveniently

distant from

the body of the church, was done in the body of the

church."

P.

8.

" If therefore the

Communion be administered

in pews

they must be cut down.

ancient

And

certainly,

if

the late reviving of the

manner of bringing

up the people by turns into the Chancel to the Table,

had been
so wise

as

to

have made use of the whole

Chancel as well as the Hail, and so happy as to have

escaped the folly of erecting an Altar, and there worshipping the work of their

own handsj

it

had been

incomparably more convenient. " It is a needless weariness put upon the minister
to

go up and down the churcli reaching and stretch-

ing out, rending and tearing themselves in long pews,

to

hold forth the elements over four or

also

five

persons

it is

an occasion of shedding or spilling the bread

and wine."
P. 11.

"It might be wished that in London there

rail

mifht be some provision made of a

or wainscot,

standing some convenient distance from the Table on

Communion-days
for that

for

we cannot

spare all the. Chancel

purpose by shutting up the doors."

P. 12.
Table,
it

"And

in

some places boys do write on the

being prepared for the Chancel."

He

also

mentions another objection to pues, namely,

"

Danger

of infection from plague, or person with

a plague sore,
gations."

no uncommon thing

in

London

congre-

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

P. 15.
" If the rail offend there
it is

43
be a wainscot
;

may

made

instead thereof, as

in Blackfryars

the seats

of which are so ordered abont the Table, that two or

three rows of

Communicants may come

and in view of
it
:

at

one time
liath

round about

it,

which Church

never been accused of Popery.

"At
no
;

the
in

rail it shall

be seen whether they kneel, or

all

close

pews may be concealed."

innovations he reckons "a wainscot

P. 17.

Amongst

screen to keep off the wind, high pews, beneficial that

way, also locks to our pew-doors, that we

ourselves, larger lights

may

enjoy^them

and windows,

galleries for

your

youth to

sit in,

that were wont to stand at their Master

for

and Dame's pew-doors;

first bringing stools, " it

many

years after churches

were built there were no pews at

all ;"

but such people

to benches,

grew from them

and

after into pews,

and

at last to

what

it is

now come
the great

unto."

we may gather very "low Churchman" of his day on

these extracts

From

the opinion of

harm

of pues.

And

his testimony to the then novelty of their

adoption

is irresistible.

P. 20.

"Rails round the Table, not moveable

in

middle of Chancel are not Popish nor an innovation,

the use of rails have been the custom in

for

toune and country, beyond the

ple,

many churches, memory of many peoup

in beginning of

60 or 80 years

old.

In the books of some churches

to be set

in

London, they are said

a remarkable
scarcely

Q. Elizabeth's
It
is

reign, before

which they were not used."

that between

fact,

the years
to

1646 and 1660,

been erected.
I

any pues would appear

have

have never seen a single instance of one

44

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

;

bearing date within this period

to prove the

and

this

may

serve

truth of what I have been saying with

respect to the reasons which led the puritans to adopt

them.

For now that the cause was gone

sit,

now

that

people might
at the

stand, or lie down, as

they pleased,

Communion

the Altar, or at

might abstain from bowing towards ceased the Holy Name the
effect
too.

A gallery
Paul's

was erected, however,

;

in 1657", in

Glou-

cester S. Nicholas

and we

are told that at S. Peter's',

for

Wharf, where the Church Service was used

to the Restoration,
it,

some time previously

many

of the

nobility flocked to hear

galleries

and were accommodated in

carpets.

hung with

rich

Turkey-work

But, though our churches were even at the Restoration comparatively free from pues, England's character

had been puritanized,

and the questions of her

prelates evince a different feeling with respect to

them

a disposition to look at
sary evil.
strife or

them

in the light of a neces-

Bishop Laney asks (1662), "Is there any

contention for the pews or seats in your church ?

erected in your Chancel, or

Have any new pews been

the body of your church, without leave of the ordinary ?"

And

Bishop Rainbow

(1665)

asks

nearly the

same

question.
Still,

pues were sufficiently common, and churches

began here and there

chiefly

in

large towns

to

be

pued throughout.
(1707),

In The Oracles of

the D'lsfienters,

we

are told that the spire of S. JNIary Tower,

at Ipswich,

was blown down, Feb. 18, 1661

its

and on

account of
^

fall

the church had to be repued.

-

C. S.

Nkwcourt,

S. Peter.

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

Sir Christopher
gallant,

45

Wren,

it

is

well

known, made a

though unsuccessful stand, against the intro-

duction of pues into his

London

churches.

There

is

a pue in the
;

chancel of Leigh', Surrey,

bearing date 1677

shire,

one in Steeple Morden", Cambridge-

1687; one
first

in

Llanfwrog, Denbighshire, l690^

The

instance I have

met

vvith of the

unhappy-

practice of

making the income of a clergyman dependent

on his pue-rents, occurs at the erection of S. Anne's,

Westminster, into a separate parish, in 16S6\

At
present

the revolution, churches began to assume their

appearance,
too,

and

were

repued

by wholesale.
S. Anne's,

Then,

pues

first

began to be held in admiration.

In a sermon preached at the opening of

Annapolis,
Jas.

Maryland,

Sept.
is

24,

1704,

by the Rev.
in

Wootton, mention
and of "

made almost

one breath
so

of the pues,

this beautiful temple,

enor-

mously magnificent."

America has always dearly loved

pues.

"

We

must

not forget," says a writer in the North American Review, " one remarkable contrivance in our early churches,

the arrangement of the pew-seats.

These were made

to lean

with hinges, so that in prayer time they might be

raised

up and allow the occupants

against the

back of the pew.

At

the close of the prayer they

were slammed down with a noise like the broadside

of a frigate."

In Boston, we are

told,

some of the pues are

acin

tually lined with velvet:

his
1

and the Rev. H. Caswall,

late
C. S.

History of the American

^

Church, laments
"

C.

S.

''
.

C.

S.

Newcourt,

S.

Anne.

; :

46

THE HISTORY OF

PEAVS.

the uiicliurclilike

appearance of some churches which

piies
!

have open seats instead of

The few
date,

piies

which

occur

here

and

there

in

churches on the

continent,

appear

to be of very late

and materials even worse than our own.

Spectator, Guardian,
;

The
as

and Tatler, speak of pues

we should do now

and the occasional glimpses

which Sir Charles Grandison gives us of the inside of

a church introduce us
to the
closely

pued building of

modern days
pues

as also

do Hogarth's pictures.

Bishop Gibson, of London, was a great promoter of

;

and the

earliest instances

I have seen of

numfilled

hered pues were put up in his diocese while he

that chair.
for

His intentions were, however,

his directions (1727),

for the best

he says in

"God

be thanked,

there has of late years been in this nation an unusual

zeal for the repairing

and beautifying parochial churches,

all

and furnishing them with

for the

proper accommodations

decent and orderly performance of Divine Ser-

vice."

church,

The church of S. Nicholas, Shepperton, a cross (now much mutilated, but capable of great imis

provement,) as arranged by him, has every seat turned

towards the pulpit, which

Chancel-arch
:

at the south side of the

is lost

an immense space

by square pues
is

there are two such in the Chancel, one of which

Rector's.

the

I will not follow the Puritans, of

so

whom

I have
or,

had
as it

much

to

say,

in

drawing an use from,

subject.
I

would be called now, in improving the

be mere loss of time.
originally

It

would

have shewn you, that pues,

the offspring of indolence and pride, were

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

47

soon found most valuable assistants in defying Churchlaws,

and braving Church-censures.

their advocates

have told you

who were
Bastvvick,

men

like

Prynne, Burton,

Hughes

have told you that they were

denounced by Laud, and Wren, and Montague, and

other holy Bishops, who, partly by their opposition to
this very innovation,
tyr's

have won

for

themselves the MarI

and the Confessor's Crown.

need
I ?

have not told you

it

selves

and why the

followed
cut

you

have lamented
devastation

for

your-

destruction

and

which

have
once

pues into our churches.

Roodscreens,

enshrining the Chancel in their transparent net work,

now
the

down and baized

into a pue-back; brasses, once

fondly viewed with the hope that they might preserve

name

of a beloved friend
in

for

ever,

now boarded
half-

over or broken

pieces

piers,

recklessly cut

way through
innovation,

for

the reception of a luxurious pue-corner

sedilia,
all all

windows, Fonts,
for

bear witness

against the

have

suffered

by

it.

Nay, your

Church, with every rubrick denouncing, and that in the

strongest way,

by implication, these abortions of a puwhich, (in

ritanick age, these distractors of devotion,

so far as they

tend to deaden the feeling that in the

House

of Prayer,

we
urge

are all one body)

offend against

our glorious belief in the

herself seems to

Communion
to

of Saints,

she
the

you

lend

your aid

in

struggle
t]

now
yap

carrying on against them.

i/eou?

hpTrovTwi

u/j.veL

Trecw

airavTa iravooKovaa Traioeim brXov

eOpe\\/aT
TTicTTovs
o'lKiarrjpaf;

a.<T7ricr](p6pov9
ttjOos
'^(^peoi'

oTTWs yevoiaOc

Tooe.

48

THE HISTORY OF PEWS.

we,

And
to

who

are called

by our Ecclesiological pursuits

lidless boxes,

see

more than others of these

all colours,

painted

every colour and

these cattleless pens, there-

in inferior to those at

Smithfield, that they are never

cleaned, but harbour in their tattered green baize the

dust and corruption of a century

shall

we not more
?
it

than others exert ourselves to cast out the evil

And now
future

have done.

I
tell

must leave

to

the

how the first outcry was raised against them by Dr Warton*; how the first stroke was struck by Dr Burton how pues fell before the Archdeacons of East and West Sussex like heroes
historian of pues to
;

in

Homer

before Achilles

how, since puing does not

suit churches, the

it

experiment was tried in 184-0 whether

for

might not be better adapted

a cathedral,

and

Bath Abbey being pued and

ingly
like a

galleried

became

surpris-

conventicle

how

objections

were raised
;

against wood-seats on the score of family disunion

nevertheless, the
itself a host,

how,
in

Cambridge Camden Society,

field,

came into the

if

how

its

members wrote

and acted, and,

in

need be, suffered, in the cause, how

their

church

of S.
rich

Alban the Protomarty^r

misereres,

the Choir

had

oaken

the

Nave and

Aisles poppy-heads and priedieux, and how, going forth

to their several stations in life,

they fought, as in other

instances, so in

this,

the battle of Catholick principle

against puritanical

selfishness,
its

and were

in

no small

degree the cause of

'

final victory.

Hist, of Kiddington, p. 5.

Note A. p. 9. Since writing the above I have met with a passage where pue bears most distinctly the sense of open seat. It occurs in Dr Cosin's Memorial to Archbishop Laud, in Cambridge, as quoted in Dr Peacock's Observations on our Statutes, p. 96. Here the benches on which the choristers sat in the Chapel of Trinity College, are called by
this

name.
p. 11.

pue with which where are two rich covered stalls of late Perpendicular work, which certainly bear some approximation to pues, though in fact they are not really so, any more than the Decanal seat in the Choir of a Cathedral.

Note B.

The

nearest approach to an ancient

am

acquainted occurs in

Lavenham Church,

Suflfolk,

N. B.

By

C.

S. in

the foregoing pages the Society's

Church Schemes

are referred to, from which (pues being one of our items)

much

infor-

mation was to be gained.

THE STATISTICS OF PUES

REPORT
PRESENTED BY

THE SUB-COMMITTEE
APPOINTED TO CONSIDER THE COMPARATIVE ACCOMMODATION AND EXPENCE OF PUES AND OPEN SEATS

On

MONDAY

December

6 1841

UIUC

REPORT,

Sub-Committee

of the

Cambridge Camden

Society

has recently been engaged in an inquiry into

the comparative advantages of pues and open benches

in churches, as to the

numbers they are capable of

ac-

commodating

the results they have arrived at plead so

strongly in favour of the open benches, on the simple

ground of their superior capacity, that

advisable to lay

it

is

thought

them before the

public.

They appear
in-

to form a suitable

Appendix
its

to

a historical notice of
to

pues

which has

for

object

condemn those

closures on

historical

grounds:

and

by thus proving
it is

that both history and statistics are against them,

hoped that something may be done towards that goodly

work which has been
so well

begun

in other quarters'

the
As
little

abolition of pues.

pues are

much

the same everywhere,

it

is

of

importance to mention where the investigations

were made which are the ground of our statements,

except as a guarantee that those statements are the
result of actual

observation.
accessible,

Churches

in

and about

Cambridge were most

the Less, and
^

and surveys were made

of the churches of S. Michael, S. Edward, S.

Mary
and of

The Holy

Trinity, in

Cambridge

See Archdeacon Hare's Charge, pp. 11

14.

54
those

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES.

of (Jhestertoii,

Barton,

Comberton, Madingley,
Christ Church.

and Barnwell S. The grounds

quiry were these
(1)

Andrew and
for

calculation

assumed

in

this

in-

That church accommodation,

for

to

be worthy the

name, must provide

the practice, of the

the three postures

or

which

are

contemplated by the Ritual,

at least

required by
are,

Church of England
of sins

which

Confession Praise and Profession of Faith Standing hear the Word of God and Sermons. Sitting
Kneeling
for

and Prayer:

for

to

(2)

That

all

persons in
all

the

body of the church

should have their faces at

east.
(3)

times turned toward the

That, as to space,
is

it

is

generally considered
of
seat
di-

that

about 18 inches

an

adequate width
for

(from

his right to his left)

each person

the

mensions required from back to front in the pue or

bench

will

be examined into presently.

for

Pues may,
two kinds:
I.

convenience sake, be considered as of

(2)

(i)

the square pue:

the long pue.

Pues

called for brevity's sake square, are of all

;

dimensions, and mostly oblong

they have been termed,

and not
sitting

inaptly,
in

compcmy

pues,

from the occupants

round

them, as at a table

sometimes
it

in

reality round a table, as

may be

seen in some country-

churches.
species of

This

is

confessedly

the most objectionable

are so ob-

pue

indeed, the objections to

vious as to need little remark.

The

impropriety which

they involve, of some of their occupants sitting with

their backs to the Altar, sufficiently

condemns them, on

PUES

AND OPEN BENCHES.

55

grounds distinct from those on which we are now trying

them.

But on these grounds,

;

too,

they stand condemned

no

less
is

for

the waste of room by

them

is

enormous.

This

apparent on the face of the thing, but to give

lost

some idea of the extent of room

statistics.

we

subjoin a few
area of
S.),

It

was found convenient

to take an

42

feet (from

E.

to

W.) by 7

feet

6 (from N. to

for the

purpose of comparing the capacity of these pues

with that of open benches.

species

The

average case of this

is

of

pue,

and perhaps the most favourable,

rather

where the pues are somewhat small, and

long than square.
will

ob-

Our

area

of 42 feet by

7 feet 6
S.)

contain

six

such pues, each 7 feet 6 (N. to

by 7 feet (E. to W.)

hold
is

The utmost
kneeling
it

such a pue will

nine, to sit;

for

must be reduced
benches at least

to seven.

The

six

pues therefore will hold forty-two

whereas in
(as will

the same area seventeen

be shewn hereafter)

may

be placed, each hold-

ing

five persons, or eighty-five in all,

double the number.

But
are)

further, if these pues be held (as generally they

by separate
will

families, the average

number of
However,

occuthese

pants

probably be

about

five.

pues are too monstrous to be defended, and are per-

haps

little likely to
;

be put up in churches at the preis

sent day task of

II.

yet to get rid of the existing specimens

difficulty.

some
It
is

the pues we have called long pues that

appear to be the more proper subject of our comparison.

For these much more may be

more

said,

and they

will be proportionably

difficult to extirpate.

They

do not oblige persons

to turn their backs to the east.

56
or to sit

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES.

round as at a

lire-side,

or kneel face to face,

converging to a centre
kneel and half
sit,
;

or (not always at least) to half

propped on a seat-edge behind and

moreover, they have the appearance

a hassock before of

making the utmost of every inch of room. We say the appearance: for in this respect we hope to

make
tain,

it

clear to a demonstration, that benches are

su-

perior to

pues

viz.

as to the

numbers they

will con-

in a given

space, of attendants on the ritual of

the Church of England.

Let us
40

first

refer to

some measurements made in

Christ Church, Barnwell.

feet fourteen

Here we

find in a length of
(in the

pues

in the

same length

middle

alley of the

church) eighteen benches.

a

The numbers
as

contained in
seven
;

given

space

are therefore

nine to

in other words, by putting benches

is

instead of

pues, there

a gain

of about twenty-eight per cent.

Now
be.

in

this

instance both pue

and bench were

as conveniently

evi-

dently planned to hold as

many

might

Whence
Again, in
area,

then the difference of accommodation?

S. Michael's

Church, Cambridge

in the

same

as before,

we

find only thirteen pues,

and

consequently

a loss of thirty-eight
It

per

cent,

by not
all

having benches
these cases
it is

should be

observed,

that in

just possible to kneel.

The
detected

difference of

accommodation that wc have just

to
arise solely

we conceive

from the different

faci-

height of the pues and benches, as affecting the

lity

of kneeling.

The pues
ft.

in

S.

Michael's are
ft.

4 ft.

6in. high;

the pues at

Barnwell 3

in.,

and the

benches there 3

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES.

57

is.

Let US consider what the true theory of kneeling To kneel is to touch the ground with the hnees
yovara)
'.

(TiOevai

this

definition

of course leaves

the

question open, whether the body from

the knees

up-

ward

is

to be erect

or

prostrate, or

between the two.

nem'ly

We
erect

of the

west are, however,

leaving
the

agreed on the
to

posture,
it
is

prostrate

the orientals.

But

found in practice that long-continued erect

causes such weariness, and

kneeling, without support,

even pain, as to render devotion well nigh impossible

and accordingly some support behind

In convents the resource
is

or before is usual.

to

sit

on the heels, a pos-

ture of greater rest but also of greater pain^ than the

erect.

The modern "hassock"

when

of our pues
it
is
:

is

a modi-

fication of this, especially

(it

made
by

very thick

varies from
is

6 inches to 2 feet)

this invention

the support

divided between the floor under the feet,

seat

the hassock in front, and the

behind.
is

But
to

the

more simple, and of

old

usual resource,
;

have a

support at a suitable height in front

that
is,

at such a height,

as easily

to

support the body

inclined forward, and not so low as to

ture lounging.
reverential

when make

slightly

the pos-

This appears

to be the reasonable

and

mode

of kneeling at

our ritual, alike free

from distraction through uneasiness, and from drowsiness

through over-much ease; and this mode we find

provision for kneeling

fully recognized in the

made

in

the old oaken benches of our

exist,

own

churches, where such

It
is

and

in

the foreign Prie-dieux.

very re-

markable how exceedingly low, to our notions, are the

^

See Six Weeks in a Convent.

58

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES.

In Chesterfeet

supports for kneeling at in old benches.

ton church they are

S. Michael's,

little

more than 2

high
feet,

in
e.

Cambridge, sometimes under 2

i.

considerably less than breast high for a

man
time

of ordi-

nary height;

so

lowly did they of old

think

it

became them

to

bend

in prayer.
to results

This view of kneeling leads

to

important
in

our present inquiry.

is

For wherever the support

and

question
is

no other than the back of the bench which

elseas,

in front of the kneeler, as at Chesterton

it

where,

follows that that

bench must be

as

high
:

and no higher than,

thus
it

such support ought to be

and

appears that according to old practice and the

of the bench is to he regulated hy the convenience of him ivho kneels at it from hehincl^ not of him who sits
in
it.

reasonable

mode

of kneeling, the height of the hack

Again, this mode of kneeling causes the person

;

kneeling to lean over the support in front of him

then the hench
before

if
to

him he low enough for him

it,

make
tially

it

his snppo7't, he will kneel at

leaning par-

forward into his neighbour's seat (who will be

also,

kneeling

and therefore npt incommoded thereby)

and in this case he may kneel without his bench being made wider from hack to front than is required for sitting and standing: but if the pue before him he
admit of his using the top of it as his support^ then to enable him to kneel at ally the pue
too

high

to

he

occupies

must be made wider than mere

require.

sitting

and standing
of low benches

And

thus

it

is

that the use of spac^,

causes such

a great

saving

In

the case of the

Barnwell benches one

may

kneel

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES.

leaning over the bench in front
;

59
it is

in the pues there

possible to lean over slightly, they being low for pues;

while
at
all,

in

S.

JNIichaers,
to

you cannot lean over the top

owing

the extreme height, and therefore a

is

broad book-board

placed at about 3 feet from

the

ground to kneel
It

at.

only remains to state the quantity of space to

be

gained by the use of benches in this

way.
is

For
f^

pues,

3 feet and upwards from back to front

from an

uncommon
sides

width, and this width

;

is

necessa

when the
2ft. Gin. is

are high

21ft.

lOin.

is

the

smp'

width compatible with kneeling: but in an open

abundant, and we believe that
2ft. lOin. for 2ft. 2ft. 4ir

be found quite as roomy as

then, a middle course,

pu

and allowing

Hi

and

2ft. 5in. for a bench, the

number of p

be accommodated in the same area by p will be in the proportion of 2^5 to 2^

or about
least

100

to

120:

so that there wi^

20 per

cent,

by the use of ben

about 20 per cent, by the use of pv

in order that the fact
cent., or one-fifth

may

not

of the " availr

lost

of a

church,

is

by the

Surely, if this fact

lery

had been bf
Messrs

might have been dispen?

Estimates from

bridge, have been obtained,

the expence of

oak-bench
is,

that of deal-pues; this

covered;

for

the same


60
fairest

PUES AND OPEN BENCHES. way,

the

benches

will he

the

cheaper.

This

estiiriauC

does not include

is

carving.
it

In re-seating an

old church which

chcu^;er
to

already pued,

would be much
pues involve a
this is a serious

put

in oak-benches,
;

since

iiew rioor,

which benches do not

and

item in the account.

does not
.here
r

We
;

have sdd that our estimate

include carving, but

this

we do not mean that

add
to

should be none

will

the expence
shillings

simple
;

poppy-heads

about

sixteen

per

"nch

for

a carved elbow about as

"osing that this

much more. But expence cannot be met, we throw

In
putting oak benches
into

ns suggestion

have the poppy-heads cut in a general form by

,er,

ready for the carver to begin his work.

in this
')

state

look well

(compared with

though unfinished, and the poppy-heads

gradually in
aised.

the

course

of years,

as

In any parish there would be

long
:

ig

ere

indeed,

the incomplete

benches will be sufficient to awaken

Ml

as

think money well bestowed in

the arrangements of a church

^increase.
"^^ourselves

to

purely

statistical
;

>^on
'^oi

of

OPEN BENCHES
when
tlie

and

argument, increase of
nvfitnesfi,

favoTir,

^ess,

and the Puritanick asin vain.

^\e bc^n dwelt on

^'^"m