Box pew

Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in churches and only accorded to the lord of the manor, civic dignitaries and finally churchwardens.

[1] Box pews provided privacy and allowed the family to sit together.

In the 17th century they could include windows, curtains, tables and even fireplaces, and were treated as personal property that could be willed to legatees.

By the eighteenth century it became normal to install formal box pews instead of random personal constructions.

It was common for families to bring foot warmers (wooden boxes filled with hot stones gathered from the home or local tavern hearth) and crickets (foot stools) and blankets to meeting, huddling together with their feet held above the foot warmer on a cricket, using the blankets as a tent over their shoulders down to their feet.