For most of the medieval period there weren’t actually benches inside churches and a small detail at St Mary's, Tal-y-Llyn on Anglesey alludes to this fact.
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It was only in the late 14th century that benches - as we would recognise them today - started appearing inside churches. Before that, the laity would either stand or kneel in the nave during services.
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Sometimes there were a few portable stools for those that couldn’t stand or, as at St Mary’s, Tal-y-Llyn, there were narrow stone benches built into the walls of the church.
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Supposedly, these stone benches that run along the walls of medieval churches are the origins of the phrase “the weakest go to the wall” as this limited seating was said to be reserved for the frail and elderly.
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However, the less than ideal position of these stone benches for viewing the elevation of the host during Mass casts doubt on their assumed function.
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Nevertheless, it is certainly true that there weren’t benches in churches for most of the medieval period. As, it was only by the 15th century that they became common place, largely due to the rising popularity of sermons.
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Then, after the Reformation, benches and box pews became ubiquitous in churches across England and Wales.
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The incredibly simple wooden benches at St Mary’s, Tal-y-Llyn were installed in the 18th century. Unfortunately most of these were stolen while the church stood abandoned in the 1990s.
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After we took St Mary’s into our care in 1999, we had copies of the sole surviving bench made to repopulate the nave of this austere medieval church.
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