My thanks to the follower of bathnewseum.com who kindly sent me an image of that ‘missing’ King Edgar plaque that adorned an external stone buttress at the east end of Bath Abbey for many years.
It records the fact that Edgar – the first king of all England – was crowned in a Saxon Abbey that previously occupied the site, back in 973 AD. The anointing rituals used in that ceremony have been used ever since as part of the coronation of our kings and queens.
The plaque had lost a screw, and the wooden backing was falling apart, so it was taken down. Since then the amazing multi-million pound Footprint Project kind of got in the way of any further action though – recently – we’ve been reminding the powers that be about how much the plaque has been missed.
The Mayor’s Guides, in particular, often pointed it out, and explained its relevance, to the visitors they show around Bath.
Well, at this special time of the year, l have some tidings of joy of my own to pass on to you.
I am told the plaque is being sent off to a specialist in Winchester for restoration. Those wonderful crown embossed screw security caps will be replicated and – hopefully – the plaque will be rehung in its original place early next year!
