‘Sacrilege’: Church’s historic treasures stolen ahead of Easter

Historic communion silver dating back more than four centuries has been stolen from St. Margaret of Antioch Church in eastern England, just north of London, with key pieces used in Christian worship disappearing weeks before Easter.

The items — which include two chalices, a silver communion flagon, a silver paten used to serve communion bread and a box containing other silver objects — were taken from the church in the village of Barley in Hertfordshire between 3 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. last Saturday, according to Hertfordshire Police, which is investigating the theft, BBC reported.

The combined value of the missing objects is estimated at about £25,000 ($33,000), with the Barley Chalice alone valued at about £15,000 ($20,000) and a James I silver paten worth about £8,000 ($10,500). Both pieces date from between 1612 and 1619 and are used during Christian services, including special occasions such as Easter.

Pastor Mark Bridgen, the church's rector, called the disappearance of the historic vessels “a sacrilege” and warned that the community may never recover them.

“We are worried it is an irreplaceable loss and we may not get them back,” he was quoted as saying. The objects belong to the village itself, creating “much more of a corporate sense of loss” among residents, he added. 

The theft was discovered by the church’s 94-year-old verger, a long-serving caretaker responsible for helping maintain the building and preparing it for services.

Bridgen said the discovery left the elderly volunteer shocked, given his age and devotion to the church.

Police have begun investigating the disappearance and are seeking help from members of the public who may have witnessed suspicious activity near the church that afternoon.

The disappearance has shaken the small rural congregation. In many Anglican churches, such vessels may remain in use for centuries and are often associated with particular congregations and local traditions.

Bridgen said the church, like many rural churches across England, is normally left unlocked so residents and visitors can enter freely for prayer or reflection, but increasingly that openness carries risk.

Barley is a small village near the market town of Royston on the Cambridgeshire border.

St. Margaret of Antioch Church forms part of a rural Anglican benefice — an administrative grouping of parishes — that covers several surrounding communities, including Barkway, Reed, Buckland, Chipping, Nuthampstead and Newsells, according to the church.

Within the benefice, active congregations worship in churches at Barkway, Barley and Reed, while Buckland contains a former parish church where occasional services still take place.