St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, Lyminge (1)
The rather unusual name of the Church, St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, relates to Ethelburga, the daughter of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha of Kent. Christianity had come to Kent in the form of St. Augustine and as a consequence, Ethelburga was influential in converting her husband, Edwin, King of Northumbria to this new religion at York. When he was killed in battle in 633 A.D., Ethelburga returned to Lyminge in Kent where she had been given the land in the area by her brother, King Eadbald, who had succeeded his Father. The original construction here was supposedly a minster or convent which was used by both monks and nuns with Ethelburga becoming the first Abbess. When she died in 647 A.D. her remains were buried in the Abbey and having achieved the status of a Saint, the Abbey became a place of pilgimage. A stone tablet in the South wall of the Church gives brief details of the fact:
St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, Lyminge (1)
The rather unusual name of the Church, St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, relates to Ethelburga, the daughter of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha of Kent. Christianity had come to Kent in the form of St. Augustine and as a consequence, Ethelburga was influential in converting her husband, Edwin, King of Northumbria to this new religion at York. When he was killed in battle in 633 A.D., Ethelburga returned to Lyminge in Kent where she had been given the land in the area by her brother, King Eadbald, who had succeeded his Father. The original construction here was supposedly a minster or convent which was used by both monks and nuns with Ethelburga becoming the first Abbess. When she died in 647 A.D. her remains were buried in the Abbey and having achieved the status of a Saint, the Abbey became a place of pilgimage. A stone tablet in the South wall of the Church gives brief details of the fact: