Rood of Grace

Part of a pilgrim badge of the Rood of Grace, Boxley Abbey. This depicts Jesus Christ on the cross. The ends of the limbs of the cross are missing but they have beaded edges and are sprouting leaves (one leaf remains under the left-hand limb). Around the figure of Christ is an inscription in black letter: ‘Gode rode o[f] grace’, meaning ‘Good rood of grace’. On each side of Christ’s legs, inside the inscription band, are two shields (the right-hand shields are missing). A rood is a large crucifix usually displayed in a church. Boxley Abbey in Kent was a popular stopping-off point for pilgrims on their way to St Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury. The rood at Boxley Abbey had a life-sized figure of Christ, which was famous for shedding tears. Sometimes the face would also move. In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the rood was taken down and a mechanical device was found inside the head, revealing that the miraculous moving face was in fact complex trickery.