A JUDGE has overruled objections from a leading conservation group and given the go-ahead for church pews to be replaced with 100 new upholstered chairs at a Silloth church.

The objection from the Victorian Society was over plans to introduce the wooden chairs with wine-coloured upholstery at the Gothic style Grade II listed Christ Church at Silloth, which dates back to 1870.

The Victorian Society in its objection claimed: "There is no need for seating that is upholstered, or that would heavily erode the character and appearance of the historic interior."

They argued that the proposed chairs would be contrary to guidance from the Church Buildings Council and would not be in keeping with the listed quality of the church, and new chairs should be more sympathetic to the Victorian interior of the church.

However, granting permission to the Rector and Church Wardens of the church for the new chaireputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Carlisle in his role as as to be introduced, James Fryer-Spedding, judge of the Church of England’s Consistory Court, said he did not agree with them.

He said he did not consider the Victorian Society had made out their argument that the proposed new chairs would not be sympathetic to the historic environment of the church.

He said one of the hallmarks of the interior of the church was its “colourful internal brickwork”

 “For my part, I am persuaded that the choice of an upholstered chair with coloured upholstery is properly congruous both with the red banding in the internal brickwork of the Church and with the carpeting already in place.”

He said he was satisfied the Rector and Church Wardens had shown sufficiently good reason for the plan and gave permission for the new chairs to be introduced.

He added: “If I were to be wrong, and in fact, the proposed new seating would cause any harm to the significance of the Church, then I consider that any such harm would be at most modest, and clearly outweighed by the resulting public benefit identified by the petitioners.”

A Diocese of Carlisle spokesperson said: “When churches wish to make changes to their buildings, they have to follow a process.

“This is overseen by the Diocesan Advisory Committee and the Chancellor of the Diocese– the ecclesiastical judge – with provision for other statutory consultees to comment.

“As part of the process at Christ Church, Silloth, a large group from the DAC met with members of the congregation on site.

“Part of that conversation focussed on the chairs.

“The DAC believes the congregation are best placed to decide what chairs are most suitable, both for church use and indeed for wider community use.

“The process has been followed correctly and a decision has now been made by the chancellor which approves the purchase of the 100 upholstered chairs.

“We all take on board the views expressed by the Victorian Society, however, we would stress that the Parochial Church Council took huge care over this decision, including procuring several different models of chair to test.

“Furthermore, the colour of the upholstery is in keeping both with the existing carpet and an internal red brickwork band.

“It is important to note that since the building was reordered – providing improved access and new kitchen and toilet facilities – it has become a much more used community asset.”


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