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There aren't too many box pews left in churches today. Most date from the 16th to 19th century and were designed to give privacy to worshippers. Sometimes they contained tables, fireplaces, windows, curtains etc. and sometimes they were available to rent. Here are some pale and beautiful examples at St Stephen's, Fylingdales, near Whitby.
I was reminded of this type of church interior when hunting for a great, great uncle on Ancestry.co.uk the other day. This useful resource can often provide an interesting history lesson (not to mention a wonderful collection of unusual names - my favourite to date is Eglantine Thonger.)
I was looking at this particular 1871 Berkshire census page and discovered a really useful occupation for a lady of a certain age:
Here she is among the scholars, the carpenters and the under gardeners - Harriet Boult, aged 62, Church Pew Opener!
Those were the days, no need for an over-60s lady (with no pension) to worry about gainful employment. Her duty was to unlock private pews when required by their owners, while sometimes making extra money by renting out empty pews.
My great grandmother had another good idea; widowed at 60, she started up a servant's registry office - matching servants to employers. The responsibility for angry, mis-matched pairs would be just too much for me!
At the moment, of course, buying and selling the quaint & the curious keeps me busy - and I PROMISE I'm not "a duffer", the Victorian name for a pedlar of cheap and rubbishy goods.
But if I ever do need a gentler occupation, church pew opening sounds like a doddle to me...
..."this way, Sir!"
***
I am fascinated by box pews.... there are still some at St Mary's in Whitby, so it is interesting to know that another nearby church has them too. It just makes you think about the families that trooped into them every week, and how the children behaved, and whether they sneaked toys or games in, to play secretly under cover of their own special place to pray.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Nilly. Jx
Some say children playing may have been the least of the antics going on in box pews. Yes, St Mary's in Whitby is fantastic - and last week's news showed how close to the crumbling cliff it is.
DeleteWhat another very interesting and informative post Nilly, I have never seen a box pew ever. Quite fascinating. I think that would be a lovely occupation for a gentlewoman - pew box opener x
ReplyDeleteOr even a very ordinary woman like me!
DeleteSo pale and beautiful, the pews I mean, although I'm sure you are too :)
ReplyDeleteJean
Ha ha! The paint colours in St Stephen's are wonderful, very much like F&B's Elephant's Breath.
DeleteWhat a beautiful church. Thank you! M
ReplyDeleteSo many amazing ones to explore and visually so inspiring!
DeleteWhat a very odd job Nilly - you are a great source of tidbits of information - the kind you can come out with at a dinner party when there is a deathly silence!!
ReplyDeleteJanice mentions St. Mary's, Whitby, and those are the ones that always spring to my mind, and that extraordinary trumpet listening device that the Vicar's wife used to put to her ears so that she could hear the sermon.
I'm not sure Rosemary! I might be someone whose dinner party remarks cause the deathly silences - sometimes!
DeleteThey didn't have those kind of pews in my Welsh Chapel!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the idea was to lock the congregation in so they couldn't escape if it all got too boring!
DeleteVery lovely pews, Nilly, and I would certainly have you as a church pew opener if it were within my capacity to employ you as such! You are doing an excellent job in the photo here. I love those pale and interesting ones though - what a beautiful church.
ReplyDeleteGlad you gad so much and thrilled you share. Axxx
I love that - I could've ordered Mr N a T shirt with "GLAD TO GAD" printed on the front for Christmas! As it is the one I've ordered says, "DOES IT HAVE TO BE NOW?"
ReplyDeleteAnother informative post Nilly...I adore those numbered box pews, especially in those beautiful colours.....F&B Elephant's breath indeed.
ReplyDeleteHope the rain, ice and snow haven't scuppered your buying trips to Lincolnshire in the old jalopy.
Julie x
Great post. I have obviously missed my vocation in life and feel I should have been a pew opener. Now there is a conversation stopper at dinner parties! When we used to attend naval functions and I would be asked my job, when I replied that I didn't work, was a housewife, people would move on to someone far more interesting. Now if I could have said I was a pew opener........
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