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REPLICA OF STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD CROSS PRESENTED TO THE POPE

A Replica cross found as part of the Staffordshire Hoard has been given to the Pope as a gift from the people of Birmingham.

Craftsmen and women in the Jewellery Quarter worked around the clock to recreate a folded cross which was thought to have been deliberately bent in two to fit inside the seventh century hoard.

Birmingham City Council asked silversmith Shona Marsh to make the cross, using a prototype made by the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre, at the Birmingham City University School of Jewellery.

Councillor Alan Rudge presented it to Pope Benedict before he carried out mass in Cofton Park on Sunday. Mark Watkins, a technologist from the JIIC, was given the initial task of ‘unfolding’ the cross on screen using artist’s impression, before his images were made into patterns.

The five pieces that form the cross were then cut separately and soldered together before being plated in gold with garnet insets to make it looks as it would have done in Anglo Saxon times.

The silver was donated by Cookson Precious Metals and staff gave up their own time to work on the project.

The cross, which has been hallmarked with the city’s anchor at the Birmingham Assay Office and is the size of an A4 sheer, was placed in a presentation box made by Chris Croton, of Britain Clock Cases Ltd.

Councillor Rudge said “When it goes to the Vatican with his Holiness, it will undoubtedly be a reminder of this historic event in our great city”.

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