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Canterbury Cathedral-seating In Cathedrals


Guest Roffensis

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Guest Roffensis

Well! Having witnessed the employment of so many plush seats in our Cathedrals and greater churches, spoiling the acoustics, what a pleaseant surprise indeed to very recently enter the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, and be greeted by new wood chairs that do not spoil the acoustic!

 

Chester is a prime example of how not to reseat, with the building sounding much like an old dead bucket these days, but Canterbury clearly had some informed thinking. :D

 

R

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Chester is a prime example of how not to reseat, with the building sounding much like an old dead bucket these days,

R

 

We visited there sometime ago and it looked distictly cluttered - stuff everywhere!

 

AJJ

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Guest Patrick Coleman
Well! Having witnessed the employment of so many plush seats in our Cathedrals and greater churches, spoiling the acoustics, what a pleaseant surprise indeed to very recently enter the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, and be greeted by new wood chairs that do not spoil the acoustic!

 

Chester is a prime example of how not to reseat, with the building sounding much like an old dead bucket these days, but Canterbury clearly had some informed thinking. :D

 

R

 

We have recently installed some excellent and very comfortable upholstered chairs (made in USA) which joyfully do not seem to have spoiled the acoustic at all. I suspect that most of our excellent acoustic comes from the building's height. The organ sounded if anything better during Cynic's splendid recital on Tuesday than it did last year when he gave us an equally splendid concert. Thank you Paul!

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Well! Having witnessed the employment of so many plush seats in our Cathedrals and greater churches, spoiling the acoustics, what a pleaseant surprise indeed to very recently enter the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, and be greeted by new wood chairs that do not spoil the acoustic!

 

Chester is a prime example of how not to reseat, with the building sounding much like an old dead bucket these days, but Canterbury clearly had some informed thinking. :D

 

R

 

 

Contributing to the present lack of acoustic in Chester Cathedral was the move about ten years ago which resulted in the whole floor being relaid in new stone. It was immediately apparent afterwards that the old floor was less absorbent. Contrast that with Hereford where acres of new marble were laid when the nave altar went in on a handsome platform!

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Guest Roffensis
Contributing to the present lack of acoustic in Chester Cathedral was the move about ten years ago which resulted in the whole floor being relaid in new stone. It was immediately apparent afterwards that the old floor was less absorbent. Contrast that with Hereford where acres of new marble were laid when the nave altar went in on a handsome platform!

 

 

The new floor is not much to blame. Both were and are Sandstone, and it did not affect the sound at all in an empty nave ie with no upholstered seats, when I was there once. What did spoil the acoustic was indeed that new seating, and this has the effect of thick carpeting of the whole nave area, which has been very unkind to the organ and Choir.

 

The second niggle I have with what is surely Britain's most cluttered Cathedral, is indeed the hideous and cheap nave altar, and thirdly and not least, the TV screens in the aisles, supposedly disguised by brown covers!! They look cumbersome and unsightly.

 

Ah! Our wonderful enlightened age!!

 

R

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