In 2005 during the first phase of the Heritage Lottery Funding, when the Palace was entirely wrapped up in scaffolding and covered with a false roof, all the moveable objects had been packed up and were being stored in various locations across London, or were stacked high in the Great Hall.
We all, staff and volunteers, moved into temporary accommodation in Coachman’s Lodge. There was still a skeleton education service, camping out, with basic artefacts and costumes in the Museum and the Chapel. Our usual activities were on hold, sewing bee and embroidery sessions suspended. We were all in need of something creative to do.
Our education officer Jenny Kershaw came up with the brilliant idea of embroidering all the Bishops’ Badges dating back to the Norman Conquest. The project built on the skills developed from the historic embroidery sessions which Jenny had been running at the Palace for several years. It served as a way of keeping an enthusiastic group together, whilst also creating a permanent memorial to the past history of the Palace.
It was decided that all the badges should be of a uniform size and the colours to be used as they were shown on archive portrayal of the badges. The stitches were left to the individual embroiderers own creativity. Soon practically everybody involved with the Palace was taking part and keeping track of who was doing what badge, which were already finished and whether any had been left out became a major logistic operation.
Towards the end of phase one, Bishop Howley’s Dining Room, part of the Museum, was closed for renovation and a false wall leading to the Porteus Library was installed, prior to the formal reopening of the Palace after its refurbishment. It was the perfect place to display the badges. Suitable frames had to be found, the badges mounted, the names of all the individual embroiderers acknowledged and Peter Trott came into his own, expertly hanging them. The exhibition was one of the highlights of the reopening of the Palace on 9th November 2006 when Jenny was able to show the present Bishop of London the badges and present him with an embroidery of his own badge. The exhibition ran until 17th December to great acclaim.
With the reopening of the Museum most of the badges were put into storage, although some are still on display in the Porteus Library. Putting them on line is a way of remembering the camaraderie of the embroiderers at an exciting time for the Palace. The embroideries are a permanent memorial from the twenty first century to all the post Conquest bishops.
Click here to view the Bishop's Badges in our new online gallery.
Esther Dean
Sewing Bee, Tour Guide, Collections Assistant Volunteer