The rich golden brown patination of seasoned oak and pine polished down the centuries by willing hands is one of the delightful features of our parish churches whether it be pews and pulpits, lecterns and altar rails, screens, cupboards or coffers.

The preservation of these wooden objects is a sign of the care that has been lavished on the fittings and furniture and the warm glow they exude is a welcoming sight for visitors. Oak is the hardest and strongest of our native timbers, a favourite for the manufacture of benches or pews which show off the old wood at its best and its value today is of particular merit when we remember that it was most probably cut and crafted by local woodsmen and carpenters and so what we see is a mark of their faith that has survived the centuries.

Unfortunately, pews particularly are being removed at an alarming rate to provide additional space in the nave for more diverse community activities and such a change is currently facing many churches, not least those in the Bourne area, as happened at St Michael's at Edenham early in 2005 (pictured above).

Opinions were divided because moves to give the building a greater role in village activities did not please everyone as it involved moving out some of the pews that had provided seating at services for generations.

The scheme for the re-ordering of the west end was designed to create space for baptisms, for people to gather before and after worship, for children to sit and play, for wheelchairs and prams and for exhibitions and displays and to enable a friendlier method of entry into the church which at the time presented a rather crowded prospect for the visitor. These were radical proposals in a community that was by definition traditional in its outlook and many believed the removal of pews to be quite unacceptable. It is therefore worthwhile taking a look at their history.

Benches or pews in churches are a fairly modern innovation. Before such facilities were installed, the congregation would stand, even mill about, although sometimes stone seats can be seen around the base of columns or against the walls, for use by the infirm, thus giving rise to the expressions “the weakest to the wall” and “gone to the wall".

Wooden benches were introduced in the 13th and 14th centuries because of the growing popularity of itinerant preachers, mainly friars from Europe, when an emphasis on the importance of sermons developed and, because they were often very lengthy, those in the congregation needed to rest their weary legs. From the 15th century onwards, they can still be found in parts of East Anglia and the West Country but did not become a regular feature of churches in Northern Europe until after the Reformation when most had acquired some form of seating, often wooden trestles which could be removed from the nave as required for other purposes.

By the 16th century, most churches had installed permanent long-backed benches with open rails, bench-ends and book rests for the benefit of those sitting behind. Rows of seats such as these are often erroneously referred to as pews whereas these are enclosed and come from a later date. Nevertheless, it is accepted today that wooden seating in modern churches is generally referred to as pews and the term benches or bench-ends to those forms of seating from an earlier period.

One or two of the pews in Edenham church date from the earliest times and a few have traceried ends, a legacy from the mediaeval church, including the most fascinating form known as poppy-head, probably derived from puppis, the figure-head of a ship, while below there are usually carvings of human figures or animals that sometimes surmount small buttresses at the sides of the standards or ends. Others are of a more recent century, probably Victorian, although many have bench ends of antique carved panels from an earlier period, some humorous such as two bearded heads joined together that are given a particular mention by Arthur Mee in his Guide to England - Lincolnshire, first published in 1949. However, it is generally accepted that a church with poppy-head benches, such as Edenham, cannot be surpassed for beauty anywhere so far as its seating is concerned.

History therefore poses a dilemma for present day churchgoers. On the one hand, they are anxious to maintain their church as a conventional place of worship and on the other to meet the challenge of providing new facilities for community meetings and other activities that require the additional space created by the removal of wooden seating. Parochial church councils intent on such drastic changes need a diplomatic approach in order to please all parties, the traditionalists and the modernists.

There is also the added incentive that redundant church furniture such as pews and pulpits command high prices and a PCC that is strapped for cash to renew the central heating or pay some other pressing bill might easily be seduced into selling off their old seating to the highest bidder without really exploring the implications of such a deal and its effect on the congregation.

Short-term expediency could easily backfire and turn many people away from the church at a time when every worshipper counts to keep the building alive as a place of prayer as well as of social gatherings and discourse. The wisdom of Solomon may be needed to keep the peace between the two.

At Edenham, parishioners were asked to vote on the issue and the vicar, the Rev Andrew Hawes, issued a short description of the proposals in his parish magazine, dividing the pews up into five sections and asking readers to indicate their preferences in taking out this one or that, removing them all or leaving the church as it is. They were given until April 16th to make their views known and as many other churches are likely to face similar problems in the years to come, the voting will prove to be a most interesting exercise.

UPDATED JANUARY 2005