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I'm a Bathonian. The debate about the pews went on for a long time, but was settled in favour of removing them a few months ago. The 'Footprint project' has now begun so they are coming out.
In general I'm in favour of retaining pews, but then I have good posture so don't find them uncomfortable. Unlike chairs, they put no rigid demarcation of space between you and your neighbour. But the Bath Abbey pews weren't particularly nice examples in my opinion. The thing I'd really like to see go from Bath Abbey are Scott's chandelier fittings, which I find over-fussy, but they are listed and not going anywhere for the forseeable future.
Another Bath Abbey fixtures and fittings story. The Abbey has a Steinway grand piano, worth well into six figures. It was supposed to have a frame fitted so it was not just supported on its legs, but this never happened. Recently the piano was wheeled along an uneven bit of the floor, one of the castors caught and a leg snapped off. The piano was then balanced on the leg with a 'do not touch' sign. A week or two a ago a choir was using the Abbey for a concert. Thinking the sign on the piano just referred to casual visitors trying to play the instrument, they began to move it and down it went on two legs again. I was shown a picture last night of it resting at an alarming angle after this happened.Last edited by mopsus; 10-06-18, 13:32. -
Ooh nasty. It brings tears to my eyes.......Recently the piano was wheeled along an uneven bit of the floor, one of the castors caught and a leg snapped off. The piano was then balanced on the leg with a 'do not touch' sign. A week or two a ago a choir was using the Abbey for a concert. Thinking the sign on the piano just referred to casual visitors trying to play the instrument, they began to move it and down it went on two legs again. I was shown a picture last night of it resting at an alarming angle after this happened.Comment
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Good news the pews are going. They are very uncomfortable. Their removal will give enormous flexibility for display, worship and concert spaces. As the excellent Guardian piece states the building will revert to a wide open nave as enjoyed in medieval times. The Victorian Society in my experience ignore the fact that church buildings need to be practical for use in the 21st century, not only for worship but for public events. The Victorians of all people would adapt buildings for their time as they did with Bath Abbey.Comment
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An A-frame should *always* be fitted to a grand piano that has to be moved on an uneven floor. It's by the grace of God that no-one was seriously injured by the collapse of the leg. Incidentally, from what's stated on page 36 here, it appears to be a full-length Steinway D. That model's just under half a ton...Originally posted by mopsus View PostComment
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And get's through about the same amount of hay every dayOriginally posted by Wolsey View Post
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The key part of its diet.Originally posted by MrGongGong View PostAnd get's through about the same amount of hay every dayComment
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Lamontable.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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I was told today that after the leg broke the first time, a frame was belatedly ordered, but turned out to be the wrong size when it arrived. By good fortune when the piano was moved and the leg gave way again, there was a visiting tourist nearby who happened to be a piano builder, and who was able to show how it could be put in place! But this incident doesn't inspire confidence in the Abbey's ambitions to host more concerts, and no re-ordering is really going to make it easy for it to accommodate a full-size symphony orchestra and be a substitute for the concert hall which has been proposed for Bath for the last 150 years.Originally posted by Wolsey View PostComment
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The Abbey was restored in the mid-19th century by George Gilbert Scott, and as you would expect, its pattern of usage has changed considerably since then. The present work is part of a large scheme which will be adapting adjacent buildings, and the under-pavement space between them and the Abbey, to provide the facilities for its present and future usage which the Abbey presently does not have (for example, adequate choir rehearsal space, office accommodation, loos, meeting rooms).
The floor of the greater part of the church is inadequately supported, and the heating system is life-expired. The flooring is to be strengthened, and an underfloor heating system installed, using a system that uses hot water, via a heat exchanger, from the Roman Baths, which otherwise runs to waste in the River Avon. For logistical reasons, work has to start at the east end of the building, and the stalls which have currently been removed are the Corporation Stalls (located between the crossing and the high altar). They will be re-installed once the floor and heating work in that area of the building has been completed. The choir stalls have been moveable for a long while past, and are routinely moved to make space eg for concert staging. It is the 19th century pews in the nave which will not be re-installed – and it is this to which the Victorian Society in particular objected.
Over the years a number of the pews have been removed to increase circulation space and so on, and the number of occasions each year when they are all needed for liturgical purposes is probably less than half a dozen. And of course they do make the use of the building very inflexible, apart from visual considerations.Comment
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I think there must be at least a dozen occasions a year when there is a service that fills the Abbey to capacity. I can think of Christmas and Advent carol services, the ticket-only Remembrance Sunday service, the primary schools' Advent carol service, the carol service and end-of-year service for Kingswood School, and those are just the ones I know about. But there must be a limit on total numbers because of fire regulations.Originally posted by weston752 View PostComment
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