“The churchwardens have not used to meddle with anie seate”: seating plans and parochial resistance to Laudianism in 1630s Somerset

This article considers the impact of the Laudian Reformation upon the spatial organisation of early modern English parish churches, drawing upon the Somerset churchwardens’ accounts and court depositions of the 1620s and 1630s. An explosion of scholarly literature on early modern church seating plans and pew disputes has increased our understanding of how early moderns used the parish floor space to represent and reinforce social hierarchies and relationships. This paper investigates the significance of pewing practices to understanding parochial receptions of Laudianism, which required an overhaul of church interiors and which impacted seating arrangements in turn. It proposes that Laudian attempts to enforce a radical restructuring of churches, and to co-opt the churchwardens in pursuit of their policies, ran against established and hotly defended practices for the organisation of the parochial space.     

The politics of the chancel screen: Samuel Moore,Slaidburn, and the parochial dynamics of Laudianism

The 1630s was a decade of dramatic and often controversial change within the Church of England, as innovatory standards of ceremonial conformity and for the maintenance and appearance of church buildings were imposed upon the Church. This article will examine the imposition of so-called Laudian policies in the Yorkshire parish of Slaidburn. Despite a growing interest in Laudianism amongst historians in recent decades, little work has attempted to explore the dynamics of Laudianism in one parish. The unusual variety of sources which survive relating to Slaidburn during this period provides a rare opportunity to explore the circumstances in which Laudian enforcement was enacted. Central to these responses was the rector, Samuel Moore, a somewhat isolated figure within the parish. This article will suggest that beyond the high polemics which buttressed Laudianism, practical considerations may have prompted a willing clerical constituency for Laudian ideas of ministry and of proper worship.