The Bath Chronicle has reported on how the Victorian Society, which fought the church on controversial plans to remove the Victorian nave pews, has lost its campaign.
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The Bath Chronicle writes:
The Bath Abbey has won the right to permanently remove its Victorian nave pews after an appeal lodged by campaigners was lost. The abbey plans to remove the nave pews designed by renowned Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott as the iconic building takes on a more secular, community focused role.
Parts of the floor are also collapsing and when it is ripped up and repaired, staff want to install removable and stackable seating which would allow the space to be opened up for community events. But the Victorian Society went head to head with the church in a rare two-day consistory court hearing in December, saying the benefits of removing the seating ‘in no way justifies the substantial harm it would cause to this listed building’.
Bath Abbey won the court case, with the Chancellor of the Diocese of Bath and Wells Timothy Briden granting the church permission to permanently remove the pews. But the campaigners then lodged an appeal against the decision which lost, with the Victorian Society also being ordered to pay the abbey’s legal costs.
A spokesman for the Bath Abbey said: ‘We were very pleased to learn yesterday evening that an application for permission to appeal against the decision regarding future seating in the abbey has been refused, enabling the abbey’s Footprint programme to now go ahead without the threat of another court hearing. This means that, once the collapsing floor has been repaired, the abbey has permission to reveal the historic floor of the abbey for the first time in 150 years and to use comfortable chairs in the main body of the church. This is a vital part of our Footprint project.’
In response, the Victorian Society said they were disappointed with the decision and the removal of the naval pews will cause unnecessary and significant harm to ‘its magnificent and unusually stylistically cohesive interior’.
The pews are an almost full set and unusual for such a large church. Scott’s major restoration of Bath Abbey in 1859-74 was intended to ‘complete’ the church as it would have been if the Reformation had not stopped its construction.
Chris Costelloe, director of the Victorian Society, said: ‘The Victorian Society is very disappointed by this decision. Bath Abbey is a national jewel, and the removal of the nave pews designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott will cause significant harm to its magnificent and unusually stylistically cohesive interior. This harm is unnecessary, given that Bath Abbey is successful and thriving in its current form. We did not get a fair hearing in this case. The Chancellor greatly downplayed the significance of the pews and greatly exaggerated the ‘benefits’ that would flow from the scheme. This reordering is perceived to be a strategically important scheme for the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Yet the person tasked with striking a balance between the desires of the parish and the public interest in protecting the heritage of this Grade I-listed building is an officer of that diocese, who has had prior involvement with the abbey. A flawed system has failed to protect Bath’s heritage. More surprising than this is that a Heritage Lottery Fund grant is helping to pay for a proposal that will impoverish the heritage of Bath’s most important building.’
The Bath Preservation Trust has supported the abbey throughout the dispute. A spokesman for the trust said: ‘The trust has continued in our position that the loss of the pews (in actual fact correctly called benches) is acceptable in that it will help the abbey achieve their plans to create a 21st-century event venue for Bath where both religious and non-secular events can be held. This will in turn better reveal and open up the abbey to a wider public audience who can appreciate its beauty and significance. This is a public benefit that counters the less than substantial harm caused by the loss.’
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