Here is the exterior (1) of St Gregory’s -
And here is the interior (2) complete with its old pews –
And here is the exterior (3) of the church from which the replacement pews will come –
St Gregory’s has taken part on more than one occasion in the annual Heritage Open Day weeks, in which various buildings of great beauty and/or historical interest in the town have welcomed visitors to enable them to appreciate the beautiful interiors.
Google Images courtesy of:
(1)heritageopendays.org.uk
(2)youngcatholicadults-latestnews.blogspot.com
(3)stthomasmorechurch.org.uk
3 comments:
Presuming that the church is a listed building (by Hansom?)- would this not require a faculty from the Historic Churches Committee?
Yes, it's Grade II*, and the architect was Hansom. The pews aren't mentioned in the text of the listing; I don't know if that makes a difference.
Not being a member of that parish, I don't know at what level the decision was made. I've left a voicemail message with the local authority's conservation section, asking them to ring me; they may know something about it.
One of the parishioners has told me that all the pews are now in place, and he quite likes them; he says they look very neat. But I'm still sad.
Hi
I am a Parishioner there - and have been since 1959. The old pews were not very special - creaky, ill-matched, having been sourced from several places at various times. In contrast the new ones are in high quality timber, in good condition.
From the finance point of view I have heard that the 1960's pews were going to have to be disposed of, but no buyer was interested; in contrast the old pine pews in St Gregory had at least some sales appeal (its just how tastes shift).
From the worship point of view - it makes no difference - a pew is always going to be less comfy than (for an example) the furnished chairs in St Matthews down the road. At least the new ones do not creak and groan as the Parishioners move about...
John Andrews
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