The petition sought a faculty for the nave pews to be replaced with burgundy-coloured upholstered and metal framed chairs. The Victorian Society argued that the removal of all the pews would have a significant effect on the buildings historic character and also that, if chairs were introduced, they should not be upholstered. The petitioners’ case was that the proposed chair should be approved because there were already 40 chairs of the same design and colour in the church, though there was no evidence of a faculty authorising them. The Chancellor regarded the existing chairs as very unsuitable, and that they should not be augmented by similar ones. He decided to authorise the replacement of the pews with wooden, unupholstered chairs of a design to be approved by him, subject to a condition that the current chairs be removed within two years. If this was not acceptable to the petitioners, then the pews would have to remain.