Kneelers in St Mary and All Saints Church

 Kneelers in church, or to use their original name, ‘hassocks’, serve several purposes.  Many people prefer to kneel when praying and a kneeler makes this more comfortable by avoiding contact with the hard, cold floor.  They also enhance the image of the church, with over 300 kneelers at St Mary’s adding a warmth and beauty to the building, and encourage a memory of the members of the congregation who embroidered them with their skill and dedication.

 The kneelers in St Mary’s Church are over 50 years old.  They were the inspiration of Lady Burnham who was a very fine self-taught needlepoint artist.  She complained to the Rector that the old kneelers were hard and split and ruined her stockings when she knelt to pray.  She volunteered to instigate a project to make new kneelers and contacted a friend in the North of England who was a professional embroiderer and designer. She designed the various kneelers, taking as her inspiration artefacts that were within the church.  If you look around, you can see some of the images that were used: the various crosses in the windows and the bunches of grapes that were carved on the wooden edges. You may also notice that the ends of the kneelers bear the initials or dedications by embroiderers for, or in memory of, members of their families.

Once the designs were completed, they were checked by Moira McNeil, another professional embroiderer.  It was decided to use bright shades of red, blue and green, colours which were very innovative at the time but have stood the test of time giving a lovely warmth to the church.  The various stitches used were also a modern way of working, adding an interesting texture to the finished piece.

Kneelers are traditionally made using crewel wool on canvas, giving a very long-lasting finish.  The wool and canvas were all assembled by Lady Burnham and then distributed to over 70 members of the congregation who had volunteered to make the kneelers.  Many of the members had never worked in needlepoint before so Lady Burnham held teaching sessions to help them. They had to submit a sampler of their work before they were given permission to progress to making a kneeler.  Instructions were given on how to make an embroidery frame and how to mount the canvas on the frame. There were also instructions on how to embroider the kneeler on the frame.

Many of the makers worked on their own at home but two groups met on Tuesday evenings to work together on their kneelers.  This was like the ‘Knit and Natter’ groups which are popular today.  Each kneeler could take up to two years to complete and were a labour of love for each of their makers.  Lady Burnham made several of the kneelers herself as well as the altar rail kneelers.

There are several special kneelers to be found within the chancel. These were sewn by members of the congregation to celebrate and remember the rectors who have served at St Mary’s over the past 80 years. These kneelers are unique and represent each rector’s personal contribution to St Mary’s and to Beaconsfield, as well as illustrating their particular hobbies and interests.