THE elaborate bishop's crozier in Sheffield -
exactly 100 years old - is not allowed to leave Sheffield
Cathedral: so the Bishop, Dr Steven Croft, has been unable to take
it out to the parishes. He has very much wanted one that he could
use for ceremonial occasions around the diocese.
Last year happened to be the centenary of the first production
of stainless steel in 1913, that all-important alloy produced by
Harry Brearley, in Sheffield. To mark such an important
anniversary, a competition to design a new crozier for the Bishop
of Sheffield was launched last year.
It was won by two metalwork graduates of Sheffield Hallam
University, Stefan Tooke and Nick Palmer, who were commissioned to
design and make the new crozier using silver supplied by the Assay
Office. The crook is made of stainless steel, engraved with verses
1 and 7 of Psalm 95. The flames are fashioned from gold-plated
silver, and the crucible underneath the head is made from silver.
The shaft is a laser-cut steel tube with blue detail symbolising
Sheffield's rivers.
The crozier was presented to the Bishop at a ceremony in the
newly refurbished Sheffield Cathedral.