Pews it or lose it: the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society is at war

At the start of April, Michael Dale, the chair of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, returned from a three week holiday in Japan to “all hell breaking loose”. The Sunday Times had published an article claiming that a pair of historic Mackintosh-designed church pews had been “sawn up and sold for £40”. And who was accused of hawking such precious artefacts as scrap? Dale, along with fellow Society director Stuart Robertson. 

It was an email from Dale that alerted The Bell to the strength of feeling that is currently ripping the CRM Society in two. Having placed a link to the Times piece in our Monday briefing, we promptly received an email from the besieged director, who is facing calls to stand down from Society members and grandees of the Scottish art world.

“There are some disgruntled former Trustees who have manufactured allegations that are riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies […] designed to cause us embarrassment,” he wrote. “What is so sad about this ridiculous stushie is that the real, difficult problems of how to maintain our marvellous built heritage in this city are being swept away by the clickbait sensationalism of this non-story designed to embarrass me and my colleagues.” Needless to say, we responded to the email and promptly started making some phone calls. 

What we discovered wasn’t so much a debate about a pair of pews, than an outwardly civil and respected architectural society at war with itself — and facing a looming investigation by Glasgow’s planning department. And the question at the centre of it all: did Mackintosh design these pews? 

In 2022, Dale, founder of the West End and Merchant City Festivals, and former administrator of the Edinburgh Fringe, had joined the Mackintosh Society as chair. The Society was founded in 1973, to promote and preserve the architect's work; one of their two core aims is the “conservation, preservation, maintenance and improvement of buildings and artefacts designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh”.

Dale was brought on board due to his background in events direction, with a remit to increase the venue’s capacity for hosting events, and eventually turn the CRM Society’s headquarters, at Queen's Cross Church (the only church design by Mackintosh to be completed), into a wedding venue. 

Upon joining the board, Dale says was soon confronted with the question of what to do with two of the church’s pews, being stored just over a mile away at the Scottish Mask & Puppet Centre. They’d been removed (following permission and consultation with the board of trustees, stresses Dale) six years earlier to make room for a stage and increase the church’s accessibility. He popped around to see them and found they were “rotting away in unsuitable storage”. Plus, the Centre wanted them out so the space could be rented out or developed.