This is a golden wood crescent on the vault alongside the boss from which the canopy of the shrine may have been suspended. It may have been a trophy brought back by victorious crusaders and installed here around the time of the translation of Becket’s remains to the shrine. It could also be part of a lost painting of the Virgin Mary, standing with a crescent moon at her feet, set above the shrine.
![](https://www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/4624375322.jpg)
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