Church Seats and Kneeling-Boards
By William Butterfield, F.S.A.
In extricating ourselves from the pew system of thirty or forty years since, we have not, I think, shown as much practical sense as Englishmen are usually credited with. We have not grasped definitely the requirements of the case. We have not sufficiently agreed upon any principles, and have too much seemed to suppose that with the abandonment of pew doors all was settled. Pew traditions, in consequence, still survive very largely. I will take one point first, viz. that of kneeling, about which the Prayer Book speaks with no uncertain voice. We are still working in the majority of our rearranged and new Churches upon the pew tradition of hassocks or carpets, at once dirty, clumsy, untidy, and perishable. No protest has been raised against them, even by our Church Building Societies. If anything within the four walls of a Church should aim at an enduring character, it should be that which concerns kneeling. If anything should be provided, equally serviceable for rich and poor, it should be that which concerns kneeling. The hassock and carpet are the rich man's tradition, and they usually mean appropriation. A hassock is a stumbling-block, even to the youngest and most agile, in entering any seat, and it permanently occupies a large piece of the floor, to the great hindrance of standing with ease and comfort. It is always in different stages of decay, raggedness, and nastiness, and in town Churches at least, it harbours vermin. It can never be cleaned. The poor man, as may be seen in any Church where some unusual effort has not been made, is not provided with this article. If provided in one generation, the thing will wear out, and for him may never be replaced. I am speaking from a long and large observation. The hassock or
