This page discusses ownership <http://chestofbooks.com/real-estate/Real-Property-Interests-Law/Sec-359-Pews-and-burial-rights.html> I did see them in very old CofE church in Amsterdam I was allowed to sit on them Ron Lankshear -Sydney NSW (from London-Shepherds Bush/Chiswick) try my links http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lankshear/ On 2012-06-21 2:49 AM, David Beames wrote: > Pews were rented by "upper-class" families for their exclusive use, but I've also transcribed a number of wills where those pews were bequeathed down the generations, sometimes with great care, as though they were a valuable property. > > Is it possible that the permanent use of a pew could have been bought, perhaps for a large lump sum? > > Or could the local Squire (or the owner of the benefice) have his own private pew built and installed? > I can't believe that (for instance) the Lovells would have rented a pew at Minster Lovell:-) > > DaveB