The Church of England is obeying the government’s order to close non-essential services, including online services. With the closure of churches comes the heightened risk of theft. Some of the valuable items have been moved to the Tower of London.
The Telegraph (paywall):
The Telegraph understands that the items, known as “church plate”, were gathered and transported securely to the Tower over the past few weeks. They include “rare and unusual” silver, paintings, art and artefacts from across London’s 400 churches.
A spokesman from the Diocese of London said: …
‘The Diocese of London’s Parish Property Support Team worked with an independent conservator over several days to ensure that everything was properly logged before being packed carefully into crates and transported via a number of vehicles, before being taken to secure locations.
‘Not all of the items could be fully valued, because some are so rare and unusual.
‘Even London’s priests do not know the exact locations where items from their churches are being housed for safe-keeping.’