Church furniture is the general term for the fixed and movable furnishings made for churches, chapels and cathedrals. It includes pews, chairs, benches, pulpits, lecterns, altar tables, communion rails, choir stalls, font covers, credence tables, hymn boards, vestment chests and alms boxes.
Surviving English church furniture ranges from medieval oak chests and carved bench ends to the box pews and pulpits of the Georgian period and the enormous output of the Victorian church-building and restoration movement. Many Victorian pieces were designed in the Gothic Revival style, often by architects, and are made of pitch pine or oak with pointed arches, tracery and quatrefoils. Redundant churches and reorderings have released large quantities of pews, chairs and panelling onto the market, and these have found new homes in kitchens, halls and gardens. Buyers should consider the quality of timber and carving, whether a piece has been cut down or adapted, and the presence of woodworm, which is common in old church interiors. Lecterns, chests and carved panels of good quality are prized as decorative pieces, and items with documented provenance from a named church carry additional interest.
