For centuries genuflecting churchgoers have used kneeler cushions, or “hassocks”, to protect their knees from the cold, hard floors while they pray. In the 1930s the artist Sybil Blunt and the embroiderer Louisa Pesel created decorative kneelers for Winchester Cathedral, stitching wool designs onto a canvas base, and as the practice spread across England and Wales a new form of folk art was born. As well as Biblical stories, amateur embroiderers depicted plants and wildlife, public figures — even local sports clubs.
Kneelers line the pews at St Mary Magdalene
ALAMY
Today, as kneeling in church becomes less common, the cushions are increasingly redundant. Lamenting their disappearance, Elizabeth Bingham, the leading authority on Anglican church kneelers, began to record their unique designs on her website, parishkneelers.co.uk. She has published a book on the subject,
