This altar cloth was designed to lay over the high altar at St Mary's Cathedral in New Plymouth. It is difficult to date this object but due to its unusual colouring and utilitarian choice of fabric it is thought that it may be the oldest altar cloth at the Cathedral, hand embroidered in England, and sent out with early New Plymouth settlers. This is because the fabric is a much heavier weight than the other altar cloths and the colour is very practical as opposed to the more common white. Perhaps these were choices made by people on the other side of the world who were not quite sure what environment they were sending the cloth to.