St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, Lyminge (2)
Lyminge, Kent, has long been known as a site of an Anglo-Saxon royal monastery, in fact Lyminge is one of the best preserved monastic sites in Kent, a region where Christianity first gained a foothold in Anglo-Saxon England. Historical sources indicate that a ‘double’ monastery – a mixed community of monks and nuns placed under the rule of a royal abbess – was founded at Lyminge during the 7th century. The monastic community at Lyminge would have formed part of a network of religious houses established across the kingdom of Kent. These new monasteries were founded following the arrival of St Augustine’s mission to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons in AD 597. The original Saxon church extended westwards, probably before 840 when the Danes ravaged the Abbey. It looks as though it was rebuilt about 965, after the Danish conquest.
St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, Lyminge (2)
Lyminge, Kent, has long been known as a site of an Anglo-Saxon royal monastery, in fact Lyminge is one of the best preserved monastic sites in Kent, a region where Christianity first gained a foothold in Anglo-Saxon England. Historical sources indicate that a ‘double’ monastery – a mixed community of monks and nuns placed under the rule of a royal abbess – was founded at Lyminge during the 7th century. The monastic community at Lyminge would have formed part of a network of religious houses established across the kingdom of Kent. These new monasteries were founded following the arrival of St Augustine’s mission to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons in AD 597. The original Saxon church extended westwards, probably before 840 when the Danes ravaged the Abbey. It looks as though it was rebuilt about 965, after the Danish conquest.