A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in churches and only accorded to the lord of the manor, civic dignitaries and finally churchwardens. After 1569 stools and seating were installed in Protestant churches primarily because the congregation were expected to listen to sermons, and various types of seating were introduced including the box pew. There are records of box pews being installed in Ludlow parish church before 1577. [1] Box pews provided privacy and allowed the family to sit together. In the 17th century they could include windows, curtains, tables and even fireplaces, and were treated as personal property that could be willed to legatees. Sometimes the panelling was so high it was difficult to see out, and the privacy was used as a cover for non-devotional activity. William Hogarth satirized the trend in his paintings and sketches. By the eighteenth century it became normal to install formal box pews instead of random personal constructions. This provided a more classic line to the church, although Sir Christopher Wren objected to pews in his churches. With the mid-19th century church reforms,[ where? ] box pews were generally swept away and replaced by bench pews. However a number of examples still remain in various churches throughout the United Kingdom. [2]
In colonial New England, it was common for the colonial meeting house to have box pews. Families would typically sit together in a box pew, and it is theorized that the concept of the box pew resulted from the fact that the early meeting houses were not heated, and the walls of the box pews would minimize drafts, thus keeping the occupants relatively warmer in the winter. It was common for families to bring foot warmers (wooden boxes filled with hot stones gathered from the home or local tavern hearth) and crickets (foot stools) and blankets to meeting, huddling together with their feet held above the foot warmer on a cricket, using the blankets as a tent over their shoulders down to their feet. Another advantage to the box pew was that family elders would sit facing the pulpit while children sat facing the elders and with their backs towards the pulpit. Thus elders could keep an eye on the minister in the pulpit while also keeping an eye on their children.
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom.
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation. In the Catholic Church, confessions are only to be heard in a confessional or oratory, except for a just reason.
The Rocky Hill Meeting House is a well-preserved New England meeting house located on Old Portsmouth Road in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Built about 1785, and not used as a church after 1840, it has the best-preserved example of an original 18th-century meeting house interior in New England. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is now a museum property owned and operated by Historic New England. It is open selected days each year; admission is charged.
A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.
Aubous is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
Holy Trinity Chapel is a private chapel adjacent to Capesthorne Hall, near the village of Siddington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an Anglican church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield. Its benefice is combined with those of St James and St Paul, Marton, Christ Church, Eaton, and All Saints, Siddington.
St Luke's Church in West Norwood is an Anglican church that worships in a Grade II* listed building. It stands on a prominent triangular site at the south end of Norwood Road, where the highway forks to become Knights Hill and Norwood High Street.
A colonial meeting house was a meeting house used in colonial New England built using tax money. The colonial meeting house was the focal point of the community where all the town's residents could discuss local issues, conduct religious worship, and engage in town business.
Little Fork Church stands on a low knoll to the east of State Route 229 nine miles north of Culpeper, Virginia in a small grove of trees that enhances its naturally pastoral setting. The name Little Fork is taken from the junction of the Hazel and Rappahannock Rivers relatively close to the edifice. It is a large room church being 83 ½ feet east-west and 33 ½ feet north-south. Unlike most rectangular churches in Virginia, the pulpit stands directly north of the southern entrance door that is placed in the middle of the southern wall rather than in the far southeast of the building. Thus it shows some of the architectural characteristics of middle colony meeting houses such as those in Delaware as well as the Virginia Vernacular Church and the deep church.
Holy Trinity Church, Tythby is a parish church in the Church of England in the English village of Tithby, Nottinghamshire. The building is Grade I listed.
The Meeting House of First Parish of Westwood is the oldest Meeting House in continuous use Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The church celebrated its 200 year of its Meeting House on September 27, 2009.
The German Church and Cemetery, also known as the Old German Meeting House, is a historic German Lutheran church and cemetery at 235 Bremen Road in Waldoboro, Maine. Built in 1772, it is a well-preserved 18th-century church, which played an important role in the lives of the area's early German immigrants, and in the establishment of the town of Waldoboro. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
The Lincolnville United Christian Church, formerly the Lincolnville Center Meeting House, is a historic church in Lincolnville Center, Maine. Built in 1820, the main church building is one of the least-altered Federal period churches in the state of Maine, with features reminiscent of earlier colonial-era meeting houses. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The church congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ; its current pastor is Rev. Elizabeth Barnum.
Walpole Old Chapel is a redundant chapel in Halesworth Road, Walpole, Suffolk, England. Originally two farmhouses, it was converted into a chapel in the 17th century. It continued in use into the 20th century but closed in 1970. It is now owned by the Historic Chapels Trust.
St Benedict's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Haltham-on-Bain, Lincolnshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It stands between the River Bain and the A153 road connecting Horncastle with Coningsby.
St Oswald's Church is in the village of Ravenstonedale, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Appleby, the archdeaconry of Carlisle, and the diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice is united with those of All Saints, Orton, and St James, Tebay. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
St James’ Church, Smisby is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Smisby, Derbyshire.
Warfield Parish Church is a Grade II* listed building. It is located on Church Lane, Warfield, in Berkshire, England, ¾ of a mile north-east of the modern centre of the village. It is dedicated to the archangel Michael. The area around the church has been designated a conservation area since 1974 primarily to protect the character and nature of this historical building.
Holy Trinity Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church precinct, containing the church, rectory and adjacent cemetery, at 71-85 Gilmour Street, Kelso, Bathurst Region, New South Wales, Australia. The church was built from 1833 to 1878, with John Foster being responsible for the building of the original church. Edmund Blacket designed the rectory. The property is owned by Anglican Property Trust Diocese of Bathurst and Parish of Kelso, Anglican Diocese of Bathurst. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 January 2011.
Holy Trinity Church is a Church of England parish church in Bincombe, Dorset, England. The church has late 12th-century origins, with later additions and a restoration of 1865. It is a Grade I listed building.
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