Stamford Mid-Lent Fair parade won’t include traditional mace due to insurance worries

A mace which dates back to the 1600s will not be used during the opening ceremony of Stamford’s Mid-Lent Fair.

Traditionally the silver gilt mace is paraded through the streets from Stamford Town Hall to Broad Street on the opening night of the historic event.

But last year the mace developed a “rattle” which suggests something is broken inside. As a result councillors have been more cautious about when and where it is used.

Insurers believe it would be too risky for the mace to be taken to the fair when it opens on March 31, having asked town clerk Sarah Dorson whether there would be any security measures or a police escort in place.

At a meeting on Tuesday she told the town council: “If we go against the insurers we won’t be covered and the mace is too valuable to the town.”

The Charles II mace was given to Stamford in 1678 by the town’s then Tory MP Charles Bertie.

It is the largest and youngest of three silver maces held at Stamford Town Hall. A smaller mace dates from about 1600 and the ‘Wand of Office’ from about 1461.

The mace measures 4ft 9in and weighs 8.2kg. It is identical in form to the one that sits in front of the Speaker of the House of Commons and continues to be paraded at the start and end of monthly town council meetings.

The Mid-Lent Fair will be operate across Stamford town centre from Monday, March 31 until Saturday, April 5.