Pews
Pews are a very characteristic and much-loved feature of traditional churches and are ideal for formal worship settings. But when they are fixed (like ours) and cover the majority of the floor area (like in St Michael’s), they severely restrict how the church can be used for anything other than formal worship.
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We recognise that if St Michael’s is to survive and thrive into the future it needs to be used for a far wider range of activities – both religious and secular. We see a future where, as well as it being a place of Christian worship, the Church is used by the community for social events, club meetings, talks, exhibitions, concerts – the list could go on.
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To make this possible we plan to open up the rear (west end) of the church by removing a number of rows of pews and reflooring where currently the pew platforms are.
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The majority of pews will remain. All the pews forward of North door crossing will stay as they are, so the character of the church, particularly the main nave, will be unchanged. Where we can, we will use pews that we have removed elsewhere in the church. We will ensure that we have at least the same seating capacity as we have today by buying stackable chairs that can be put out when required, in a layout that suits the occasion, and that can be stored away when not needed.
At St Peter's Church in Tiverton they have opened up the rear of the church by removing some fixed rows of pews and can be seen here having set the area up for a drop in café.
The pews in East Coker were installed in about 1896, replacing the ones that were installed in 1842, but were considered too uncomfortable!
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The North door can be seen on the extreme right of this photo. We plan to remove the pews and refloor from a line level with that door to the rear/West.
