A major new exhibition in Canterbury Cathedral’s Crypt opened this week allowing visitors to explore up close, for the first time, a unique collection of artefacts – including the battle shield, gauntlets and jupon of medieval warrior, Edward The Black Prince, and fragments of Thomas Becket’s shrine.
The exhibition forms part of the heritage lottery-funded Canterbury Journey project. A long time in the making, a number of hurdles have been overcome to achieve the fabulous display that can be seen today.
Artelia PM, Sophie Storey, who has lived and breathed the Canterbury Journey project for the past five years, was delighted to work alongside cathedral conservators last week as they underwent final preparations for exhibition opening. Cleaning showcases housing priceless artefacts, ensuring label stands were aligned, inserting prosorb into cases to stabilise the internal humidity levels and even sweeping the floor are all in a days work for an Artelia UK Project Manager!
Special credit to Canterbury’s Heather Newton, Lead Conservator, Ariane Langreder, Conservator and Dr Sarah Turner, Collections Manager, who have put in a huge efforts curating, interpreting and displaying the artefacts in the atmospheric Crypt. The results speak for themselves and will certainly enrich visitors’ experience of the Cathedral.