Police raid pub in hunt for holy relic

Police turned over a 15th century UK village pub in the belief it was hiding a stolen Holy Grail relic – only to leave finding nothing but a salad bowl.

The Nanteos cup

Police issued a search warrant to the Crown Inn in Lea, Herefordshire, on Sunday in their hunt for the Nanteos Cup.

The artefact, which was stolen in July, is claimed to have been used by Christ at the Last Supper.

Having received information that the cup had been sighted at the pub, a team of 12 police officers and a dog handler were deployed to search the premises, according to reports by the Gloucester Citizen.

However after three hours, all that was found which vaguely resembled the missing artefact was a wooden bowl used to serve salad.

Speaking to the Gloucester Citizen, landlord Michael Trotter said: “They said they had intelligence our customers were drinking from it at the bar. But I certainly haven’t seen it. If I had, I probably would have wanted to take a sip out of it for eternal youth, too.

“We have made our own Holy Grail bowl now and if anybody wants to drink out of it, they can; legally.

“The police didn’t find so much as an empty Rizla packet and I think they went away with their tails between their legs.”

The Nanteos Cup, according to legend, is believed to have been brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea with monks said to have later taken it to Nanteos Mansion in the Welsh county of Ceredigion during the reign of Henry Vlll.

The cup remained in the hands of the owners of the estate for centuries, only to be stolen from a house in Weston-under-Penyard, Herefordshire, in July.

The cup is said to have healing powers and had been lent to a woman in ill health prior to it vanishing, according to reports by Sky News. 

A West Mercia Police spokesman said: “We executed a search warrant on a premise in Lea, Herefordshire, following new information provided.

“The search had been in connection with the investigation of the stolen Nanteos Cup. Unfortunately the search was inconclusive and the investigation is still on-going. “

Anyone with any information about the whereabouts of the cup is asked to call West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident number 146s of July 14.