By Cathy Terry
Following on from Wayne’s fascinating discoveries in his’ History of Mayors of Norwich’, I’ve been investigating the collection of sword rests and mace-rests and finding out just how unusual they are……..
The museum’s collection of sword rests and mace-rests are amongst its’ most curious objects. Sword rests are tall brackets of wrought iron with decorative scrolls or foliage, painted name plates referring to former mayors of the parish, coronets and coats of arms. They were once found in churches throughout the city of Norwich, and although some remain in place, a number have come into the museum’s care over the years. They were intended to be fixed to pillars, walls or benches within the parish church. A pair of mace rests for the City’s maces was positioned either side of them. Their purpose was to hold the civic sword and City’s maces during civic services which…