Pew Notice - service times
Identifer
ASJ2025.08Physical Description
Small section of cedar pew ledge with details of Sunday services and other services, and purposes of collections taken up at the various services. Of interest is the line at the bottom – “All seats free when the bell stops.” – Even though pews were rented by individuals and families, they evidently had to be in the church before the bell stopped ringing. Otherwise, anyone without a seat, such as visitors to the church, could occupy their allocated seat.
Based on evidence from other surviving pews, these sheets were pasted to all the pews in the old nave. The pews were removed when the nave was heightened and reconstructed in 1938. The pasted-on notices appear to be already in place in a photo taken of the old church circa 1900.
Historical Details
These pasted notices likely date to the final decades of the 19th century, during which time printed materials became more prolific in the colonies. Up until the 1890s, there were no regular printed bulletins or newsletters produced in the parish (based on our records), so pasting the notices on the pew ledge meant all would read them, but they could not be taken away, saving the cost of further printing!Materials
printed paper glued to polished cedar timberDating of Item
1870 - 1938Database Date: Faculty Date:
19 June 2025;