Westminster Abbey Cosmati Pavement Pin Badge

This lapel pin badge has been exclusively made for Westminster Abbey and features a key element of the famous Cosmati Pavement. The Cosmati Pavement is a unique and remarkable object made up of more than 80,000 individual pieces of porphyry, onyx and glass. The materials were brought from Rome and assembled here in 1268 by order of Henry III who had started re-building Edward the Confessor's Abbey in the new Gothic style in 1245. The Cosmati pavement is unique for the complexity and subtlety of its design and workmanship. The name 'cosmati' refers to the Italian family who specialised in this technique, and the idea of laying such a pavement in the Abbey probably came from Abbot Richard Ware, who went to Rome in 1258.

• Measures: H2.5 x W2.5cm