SHOW’S OLDEST TROPHY TO BE AWARDED FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1850
The oldest trophy in the Royal Norfolk Show trophy cabinet is set to be awarded at this year’s Show – the first time it will have been presented for 172 years.
The Norwich Plate – in fact a silver tankard – was last awarded at the 1850 Show to the 16th Lord Hastings of Melton Constable Hall, who won the prize with a shorthorn bull. The trophy was won outright, and was kept by the winner. It eventually ended up in the possession of the Royal Show, before being bought back at auction by the RNAA in 2013.
The trophy, which is being sponsored by rural property specialists Arnolds Keys – Irelands Agricultural, will now be awarded each year to a winner in a different livestock category. For 2022 it will be presented to the In Hand Supreme Champion in the Equine category.
The George III silver tankard was made in 1785 in London by Thomas Liddiard, and was later embellished in the 1840s with elaborate ‘chasing’ including a horse (possibly a Norfolk Trotter or Hackney), and a plough on the domed lid of the tankard.
Tom Corfield, partner at Arnolds Keys – Irelands Agricultural, and a longstanding steward at the Show, said, “It is very exciting to bring back into use possibly the oldest trophy in the Show’s history.
“Given that it was last presented in 1850 – just three years after the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association was founded – for a prize bull, it is entirely appropriate that the trophy will now be awarded across various livestock categories from year to year, reflecting the broad scope of animals exhibited at the Show.”
The Norwich Plate trophy, sponsored by Arnolds Keys – Irelands Agricultural, will be presented after judging of the In Hand Supreme Champion Equine section, which takes place on Thursday 30th June at 4pm in the Wensum Ring.