THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

OLD PEWS AND PULPITS
Thus went the old churchwardens'
report. A commission was therefore
issued by the Bishop of Chester in 1706 to
'*
James Hockenhull, Esq., and John
Basnet, yeoman, churchwardens, with
others, to remove the pulpit as well as to
take down '
all such Seates or Pewes as
are now irregular and ununiform, and to
make them anew and uniform.' "
At Stoak church an old three-decker
pulpit is still used, though so altered as
to be unrecognisable, for the upper of the
three portions has been detached and
mounted by itself. There were also
three-deckers at Burton and Eastham
some sixt}^ years ago, as well as one at
West Kirby where it stood in front of the
altar rails in ungainly mass. It was
removed in 1788.
It is curious to note that occasionally
these pulpits were mounted on wheels.
One of these is noted by John Wesley in
his Journal (Aug. 15th, 1781). He remarks
that the custom was to shift the
contrivance once a quarter so that all
pews faced it in turns.
the
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