UPDATE January 26th
Police have charged a man with the Corpus chapel theft, after recovering some of the stolen items.
The arrest occurred after the 37-year-old took the Ciborium, the Everyday Paten, and the Sunday (Knight) Paten, described by the college as “irreplaceable”, to an antiques dealer for valuation.
But the quick thinking shop-keeper, realised that “this wasn’t what we would call ‘right’” and alerted the authorities, as well as purchasing the items and returning them to the college.
The man will appear in Cambridge Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
UPDATE January 24th:
The silverware stolen from Corpus Christi has been recovered after two weeks of searching.
The Chapel’s stash of silver, described by the college as “irreplaceable” was robbed a fortnight ago.
Corpus have reassured worried Cantabs that they are pleased to report a number of the stolen items were recovered by the police.
Rumours are flying that the cops were helped in their investigation by a local shopkeeper.
While this is great news for the college, two items of the “very distinctive” silverware are still to be found.
____________
Police are hunting a thief who filched silverware from Corpus Christi’s Chapel this Monday.
Two silver plates, two chalices and a ceremonial cup – all described by Corpus as “irreplaceable” – were stolen from a wooden chest in the chapel.
They were stolen between 4.30pm and 8.30 pm, when the chapel was open to the public. Nobody has been identified in connection with the crime.
Police image of the stolen silver
PC Simon Railer, who heads the investigation, made the following statement:
“These pieces of silverware are very distinctive and I would urge anyone with information on their whereabouts to call police.”
Cambridgeshire Police told The Tab, “We do not know who the thief might be yet, nor the reason for the theft… CCTV footage taken by the college is currently being examined as part of PC Railer’s ongoing investigation”.
A Corpus spokesperson said “The college can confirm that a small number of objects were stolen from the college chapel.” They declined to comment further.
The college owns a large collection of valuable objects, including a medieval drinking horn, ancient manuscripts and a (now slightly less) substantial collection of silver. The most famous are the 6th century St Augustine Gospels, which were venerated by the Pope during his 2010 UK visit.
The Corpus incident is part of a nationwide increase in metal thefts, linked to the sharply rising market price of metal. Churches are frequent victims, with 2011 racking up more claims for stolen metals than any year on record.
Anyone with any information should call PC Railer on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
There's quite a big difference between stealing lead off a church rood and stealing silverwear.
I didn't know they made roods out of lead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rood
It was Nick Clegg!
Don't ask me, I was training with the Under-21s!
No one did ask you.
Wasn't me, I was at U21s training
Took the silver, took my fligggghhhhhhhhhht!!!!!!1
it was PC Simon Railer
BNV or BJN
saw all the silver away. didn't we
Wasn' me
i stole the chalice. but i did not steal the deputy.
What kind of things that you have
When I find out don't expect me to stop
I'll come for the P's that you stack
And come for all the food that blot
Better hand over the silver
Your boys don't wanna see you shot
If I kick down the door to your college
Dun Know I'll clear out your chapel on the spot
TEEEEMMPPPZZZZZ
It was I.
AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!
Historians from Murray Edwards love my medieval drinking horn
Trust me, just talk a bit of Italian and tell them you have something for them to examine between 1300 and 1453.
Then after 3pm the time’s your own! And you have plenty of time left for one of the other choices in your Cambridge hat-trick – Geography, Land Economy, History Of Art.*
*ASNAC has been disqualified as a "qualifying subject" due to all girls studying since 2009 have been found to look exactly like Phil Harding from Time Team.
Gold or silver…
Send it to us via UMS!
http://www.catsforgold.com/
… research? You could have found out that it's the chalices that are still missing, along with the spare wafer-box. We got back two patens and the ciborium (The box that we keep the wafers in during the service).
Also you might want to mention that the thief broke into the (pretty damn hefty) chest – you make it sound like they just sauntered in and found them lying there.
"The Chapel’s stash of silver, described by the college as “irreplaceable” was robbed a fortnight ago."
Poor silverware.
If you're going to be pernickety then be consistent.