{"id":813,"date":"2021-04-18T13:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/?page_id=813"},"modified":"2023-11-07T16:25:23","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:25:23","slug":"free-seats","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/free-seats\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Seats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-816 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/04\/Free-Seats-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Churches have not always had pews. In the 13<sup>th<\/sup> century stone seating began to appear initially around the sides of the church. In the 14<sup>th<\/sup> and 15<sup>th<\/sup> centuries wooden benches replaced many of the stone seats but for the most, people stood during the service. It wasn\u2019t until the reformation when sermons became central to worship that people were encouraged to sit down and pews started to become the norm. In 1620 Archbishop Willian Laud required all churches to have pews though many major cathedrals didn\u2019t see pews until 19<sup>th<\/sup> century and some still don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In the past many parish churches had patrons who were significant in the ownership and upkeep of the church. They were often influential families who also created in the church \u2018family pews\u2019 or even whole \u2018family boxes\u2019. Other people could buy pews that were kept for their use only and they would have title deeds to the pews. Sometimes pews were originally installed at the expense of the congregation who then \u2018owned\u2019 their pew. It was also commonplace until early \/ mid 20<sup>th<\/sup>C to rent pews to families or individuals as a principal means of raising income. As a result the prevailing social hierarchies extended into the church.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When St Margaret&#8217;s church was built in the mid 19<sup>th<\/sup> Century, wooden pews would have been in place. What\u2019s left of these Victorian pews can be seen against the back wall by the north porch and inside the porch. New pews were purchased and installed in the second half of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century. These were made by the \u2018Mouseman\u2019 firm of Robert Thompson and by Lyndon Hammel of Harmby. Contributions towards the cost of these came from local families and most of the pews have family names and family members who are commemorated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It is believed that originally some pews in Hawes church would have been reserved by some families and individuals and the money paid would have augmented the parson&#8217;s stipend. Evidence for this is seen in in the brass pew plates which have been preserved and fastened to the one remaining Victorian pew at the rear of the nave. The dates of 1851 -52 suggest that his tradition continued into the new building. The names of the Rev&#8217;ds Lodge and Whaley were previous incumbents, whilst one plaque relates to a Londoner who &#8216;oddly&#8217; was renting a pew in Hawes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It is unsure when this arrangement of renting pews ceased and when this sign that all seats are free and unappropriated was originally posted in the church. It does now make a significant theological statement. The gospel \u2013 the good news of Jesus Christ is free to all those who would receive it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>For by grace you have been saved through faith. <\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ephesians 2:8<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>M Hirst<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Churches have not always had pews. In the 13th century stone seating began to appear initially around the sides [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-813","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Free Seats - St Margaret&#039;s Church, Hawes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/upperwensleydalechurch.org\/st-margarets\/free-seats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free Seats - St Margaret&#039;s Church, Hawes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Churches have not always had pews. 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