St Edmundsbury Cathedral to present Crown of Thorns art installation

A town centre cathedral will see the addition of a stainless steel sculpture this Lent season.

The Crown of Thorns sculpture has been created by artist Steve Jones and will be displayed in St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds from Monday, March 20.

The 64kg seasonal display made of steel rods and blade-like thorns will hang above the Nave altar under the cathedral tower until mid April.

Artist and sculptor Steve Jones said: “The motivation for the Crown of Thorns came as a result of an earlier sculpture which I made for our former parish Church near Cambridge.

“This was a fairly small affair but was welcomed by the congregation. After we moved to Bury, it occurred to me that a Crown might be worth offering to the Cathedral and they agreed.

“Of course, the Cathedral is a much bigger space, providing not only a challenge of size, but also design if the Crown was to be visible from the end of the Nave.”

The sculpture’s thorns are gilded with pure gold lead and will be lifted into place by winches after a recent successful test run.

From Easter Sunday, the crown will see the addition of flowers to symbolise Jesus’ death and celebration of his resurrection.

The Rev Canon Philip Banks, Canon Precentor at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, said: “We’re honoured to receive such an impressive piece of artwork from Steve, who has spent many hours creating this in his workshop.

“We look forward to the Crown of Thorns being a focal point in the Cathedral during Lent and Eastertide and invite the local community to come and view it while it’s on display.”