1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



425 



seats were used at all, they were moveable, and only placed in the Nave on 

 occasion, of service. The square panels are peculiarly common in Somerset- 

 shire, where they are carved in the richest and most varied devices, as may 

 be seen in a valuable series of sixty -seven drawings of them recently pre- 

 sented to the Society. 



The average height of the standards in ancient examples, measuring 

 from the ground to the top of the ritual, is from three to four feet, by from 

 fifteen to eighteen inches wide. Those, however, described under the third 

 head are usually from eighteen to twenty-four inches wide. In this case, the 

 back is of the same height as the ends ; in the others, the tinial and shoulder 

 project above the back, the capping of which is usually about two-and-a-half 

 feet above the floor. The standards are of oak, seldom much less than three 

 inches thick : and they are fixed by having the lower ends morticed into a 

 rill or sleeper of oak, four or five inches square. The distance apart in the 

 clear, that is, measuring from back to back, is usually three-and-a-half feet. 

 Two-and-a-half feet is the very smallest distance that can be allowed. The 

 seats should be not less than fourteen inches wide, and raised above the floor 

 or pavement sixteen inches. These will be fouud the most comfortable as 

 well as convenient proportions. 



It is a great mistake to make the backs high or sloping. In the former 

 case the support is against the shoulders, whereas it is required in the middle 

 of the spine. In the latter a lolling or easy-chair position is induced, and 

 the worshipper who kneels behind it is greatly incommoded by the projection 

 of the upper part : it is moreover necessary that the seats be placed further 

 apart when they have inclined, than when straight, backs. A kneeling-board 

 should be placed at the back of each, so as to face the worshipper in the seat 

 immediately behind, and serve as a desk for books. It is usually about seven 

 inches wide, and raised one foot and a half above the floor. In some an- 

 cient seats this is placed only a few inches high, apparently for the wor- 

 shipper to kneel upon, while the other is to kneel at. Very rarely both occur 

 together. 



Modern bench ends almost invariably labour under the following defects. 

 (1) They are much too high. We have known them not less than six feet 

 in height to the top of the finial, and they are seldom less than five. (2) They 

 are usually of stained or painted deal. (3) They are put together with iron- 

 work instead of wooden pegs. (1) They are not sufficiently substantial. 

 (5) They either have block poppy-heads, or are carved of the most incorrect 

 and scanty detail. (6) They are fixed to the flooring, and not pinned to 

 cills. (7) They are generally of some ludicrous and fanciful design. We 

 have seen Norman designs for bench ends, having semicircular tops, and 

 panelled with semicircular arches with Norman capitals and shafts. Early- 

 English open seats are equally absurd; since, as we have said, in the twelfth 

 and thirteenth century the thing itself was utterly unknown. 



We are very glad to find that the Oxford Architectural Society have just 

 published some excellent lithographic prints of the open seats (in perspective, 

 elevation and section) in Steeple Ashton and Hasely churches, Oxfordshire. 

 These sheets will prove a valuable contribution to the cause which we advo- 

 cate in common, and are of themselves a sufficient guide to those who are 

 desirous of following approved examples. 



It should ever be borne in mind that open seats are actually cheaper than 

 pens, since this is an argument in their favour which is likely to have no 

 little weight. The cost of a well-carved ordinary standard in oak, including 

 the material, is about 30,v. The finials may be worked separately, at about 

 10*. a-piece, and afterwards attached at the collar to the standards. Either 

 may be executed to order by our wood-carver, Mr. Groom (G2, Sidney Street, 

 Cambridge), from a series of very excellent models from churches in the 

 neighbourhood, casts of which are sold by him at 2s. each. We do not how- 

 ever recommend the latter expedient for general adoption. A far better way 

 is not to have all the poppy-heads carved at once, but to work the block ter- 

 minations gradually after the standards have been fixed in their proper posi- 

 tion. Detached poppy-beads should always be well executed in oak, and if 

 they are at first fastened to deal standards, these can be afterwards removed 

 one by one, and 3-iucb oak substituted in their places. A set of well-carved 

 oaken standards is a peculiarly appropriate gift to a church. 



We will suppose now that it is resolved to clear away from the area of an 

 old church, the motley assemblage of pens, — painted, baize-coveted, short, 

 tall, square, oblong, flimsy deal or panelled oak, or whatever hideous variety 

 they may present, — and to restore the ancient arrangement of uniform open 

 sittings throughout. These, of course, will all face the east ; and a central 

 passage will be left down the Nave, and another parallel to it on each side 

 next to the piers in the Aisles, so as to leave the bases perfectly frep and un- 

 encumbered. Now, what is the best method of procedure after this happy 

 consummation has arrived ? First, then, we recommend the entire flooring 

 (which is sure to be in a bad state from the vaults and encroachment of the 

 pens) to be taken up, and a bed of concrete a foot in thickness to be laid 

 uniformly over the whole of the interior area. In this a pavement of encaustic 

 tiles, or at least, of squared stone slabs, must be firmly fixed. When this is 

 done, and the mutilated bases and piers restored, some idea will be conveyed 

 of the ancient appearance of our parish churches. Thus the ground will not 

 easily be opened for graves, and the floor will be kept clean, dry, and whole- 

 some ; provided, of course, that proper attention be paid to the external 

 drainage and clearance of the soil from the earth-line. Upon this pavement 

 cills or sleepers of oak should then be laid loose, in a direction from east to 

 west ; and to these the standards should be mortised at such intervals that 

 the backs may be, at the very least, 2 ft. 6 in. apart in the clear. If a 

 boarded floor be insisted upon, — as it often will be, from an ignorance of 

 what a dry and level pavement beneath the feet really is, — stout planks may 

 be laid over and upon the pavement from cill to cill, into which they may be 

 made to fit by a groove, in such a manner that they can at any time be readily 

 removed for the purpose of cleaning and thoroughly drying the floor underneath. 

 Thus also, if the occupants of one seat consent to try the withdrawal of the 

 boards, and find no inconvenience therefrom, others will certainly follow the 

 example, and the plan which we have ever recommended, namely, to have a 

 stone or tiled floor under the seats as far preferable to boarding, will be gra- 

 dually achieved. We can assure our readers that we have seen many ancient 

 churches in which no 'boarding has ever been placed under the open seats, 

 and the appearance is much better, and the comfort to the worshipper cer- 

 tainly not less, for the absence of it. 



