The Bishop of Durham’s Coronation Cope

When I was last at Durham cathedral I asked why Paul Butler had not worn the Durham Coronation Cope for the recent coronation and was told that it is now too fragile to be worn, but even if not it would have been too short for him, hence he wore a cope from Westminster Abbey.

This Durham cope was made for Bishop Handley Moule to wear at the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. It was used again by Bishop Moule in 1911 for the coronation of King George V. The cope was next worn by Bishop Herbert Hensley Henson in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI. The cope was last worn at a coronation by Bishop Michael Ramsey for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The cope has also been worn for various royal visits, for example by Bishop Ian Ramsey when Queen Elizabeth II visited Durham Cathedral on 23rd March 1967.

The magnificent, dazzling Durham coronation cope is made of white embroidered brocade satin. It is embroidered all over with gold sun-bursts, made by stitching gold-wrapped thread onto the surface of the fabric, a technique known as couching. The lower edge of the cope has a white, gold and red fringe. The hood, morse and orphreys are made of blue velvet. The hood is decorated with the initials ‘IHS' in couched gold thread and has a gold fringe. The initials ‘IHS' is what is known as a ‘Christogram’, a symbol representing Jesus Christ. Here, the initials are the first three letters of His name written in Greek ‘ΙΗΣΟΥΣ’. The morse has a couched gold thread image of St Cuthbert’s cross. Just below the morse, on either side of the cope are the initials ‘ER’ in gold couched thread, which stand for ‘Edwardus Rex’ or ‘King Edward’. The orphreys are decorated with coats of arms in gold and silver couched thread: those of the Diocese of Durham, topped with a mitre, and at the base of each orphrey the arms of Bishop Handley Moule, for whom the cope was first made.

Hood and the initials IHS

Morse, displaying St Cuthbert’s Cross

Initial E and on the other side R

Orphrey with the arms of the Diocese of Durham

The arms of Bishop Handley Moule