Church receives £276,000 windfall

Church receives £276,000 windfall

The benches were once auctioned off for seven guineas

A church in Dorset has received a cash windfall of £276,000 after two antique benches were put up for auction.

The George III mahogany benches in St Andrews Church, Trent, are thought to be the work of one of the most celebrated furniture designers of the 18th Century.

It was only when a parishioner saw a similar pair of benches in an auction house catalogue that anyone realised they could be worth a fortune.

They were almost certainly made for the aristocrat William Beckford, one of the richest men of the 18th Century.

The money will go into a trust to help protect the church

Beckford was one of the most controversial characters of his time, and fled England after his relationship with an 11-year-old boy became public.

The pair of benches would have stood in his massive gothic abbey at Fonthill, on which he spent most of his fortune.

Though precise information about the origin of the benches is unclear, it is believed they were designed by Sir John Soane and produced by one of the top London furniture houses, such as John Linnel or Thomas Chippendale.

When the abbey, which he designed himself, collapsed for the sixth time he decided to cut his losses, and a great deal of his furniture was auctioned in 1801.

The benches were bought by the Seymour family of Sherborne for a grand total of seven guineas.

Beckford has become something of a cult figure, particularly in America, and auctioneers Dukes and Son had hoped the benches could generate around £200,000.

"No choice"

The church has been criticised for selling the benches, but church rector Henry Pearson says it would have been impossible to keep them safe.

He said: "The alternative would have been to turn the church into a fortress.

"Especially at this time, during the Iraq war, for a church to be open where people can come to be quiet and to pray - that is what a church really is for."

The proceeds from the sale will be put into a trust for the preservation of the church.