The history of the parish and our church

History home - The cope from St James

A cope is a large semi-circular garment worn by the clergy on ceremonial occasions during church services.  It may be worn by any rank of the Anglican clergy, and by licensed lay ministers on certain occasions. If worn by a bishop, it is generally accompanied by a mitre.

© Norfolk Museums Collections

This beautiful English medieval cope from St James is now held by the Norfolk Museums Collections. It was last used during the early 1970s, prior to the church being made redundant, and at the time was thought to be the oldest such garment in use in England. The cope will be on display when the castle is fully reopened later this year.

According to David Cranage, a former Dean of Norwich, the cope from St James dates from 1480. The garment was cut up at the time of the Reformation, before being used as a table cloth. It was repaired at the end of the 19th century. It was repaired by experts at the Victoria and Albert Museum In 1954. It is made of silk and velvet, and decorated with lavish embroidery. The cope is adorned with double-headed eagles, flowers, and fleur-de-lys. The Assumption of Mary and two seraphs once formed the centrepiece, but these were removed following the Reformation—a dark area on the velvet reveals where these once were. Although the fine silk that was used to embroider the animals and plants has been preserved, so it is possible to see how delicate these features are.

The earliest recorded reference to it is in a terrier (a list of valuables belonging to a church) from the 1830s. It was listed as being in the possession of the church in 1933 – by 1955 it had been donated to the St Peter Hungate Ecclesiastical Museum, where it was on permanent display.

Details of the cope's design: (left) The Virgin Mary (surrounded by angels) in the centre was removed when the cope ceased to be used during the English Reformation in the 16th century; (right)  A detail from one of the floral designs, showing the intricate embroidery work.

An even older cope, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum since 1905, belongs to the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire. First recorded in 1844, The Steeple Aston Cope is one of the most incredible surviving examples of English medieval embroidery. By the 1840s it had been cut up to make church furnishings. Iit was kept in the church’s medieval parish chest. The cope has been digitally reconstructed to show how it would once have looked. 

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