2 rare relics from Christ Church reinstated atop historic steeple

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PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two rare remnants from the historic Christ Church in Old City have been restored and put back into place high atop its 200-foot-tall steeple.  

Scaffolding still surrounds the church's 1754-era steeple, as a $2.5 million restoration project continues.  

As part of the effort, a 1787 gold-gilded bishop's miter and a weather vane were taken down, restored and returned to their perch.

A weather vane from the late 1700s has been restored and being put back into place on top of @ChristChurchPHL’s Steeple. A shiny newly gold gilded Bishop’s Mitre joins it. pic.twitter.com/A9wqwIatZP

— John McDevitt (@JM1060) October 30, 2019

Rev. Timothy Safford looked on as crews re-installed the objects.

“Once the scaffolding comes down, it will glitter in the sun,” he said. “It will really be a spectacular site and it’s important to return it, because what was there before the miter was the English crown. They took down the crown of the king of England and they put on a symbol that the church is no longer under the king. The crown, of course, came down in 1777.”

The miter, Safford said, was installed about four years after the Revolutionary War.

The renovations to the entire steeple are expected to be completed in December.