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The Berwick church is famous for its wall paintings by Bloomsbury Group artists, who lived nearby, but is embroiled in a dispute about whether its pews should go
© Michael Garlick
The medieval church of Berwick in Sussex is revered by the Bloomsbury-ites for its wall paintings by Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell. Delightfully set below the South Downs, the church was restored from 1855 to 1856 by Henry Woodyer, a distinguished architect, who also provided a set of pews. All the pews on the south side were later removed, and replaced with chairs, but in 1972 new pews were installed. Those were also removed last year when underfloor heating was installed, and now the parish wants, instead of putting them back, to use chairs and benches, to provide “flexibility”. There is such passionate opposition to the proposal that it looks as if the church might relent. But why have “pews” become such a burning issue? ....

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