St Ethelburga's Well, the source of the Nailbourne aka the Little Stour, Lyminge, Kent
With the winter we have had here in Kent, not as wet as some I admit, it seems that today would be a good day to go on a tour of the Nailbourne.
The Nailbourne, is a winterbourne, a river or stream that only flows in winter or wet weather, mostly of chalk downlands, and sometimes can flow through the chalk rather than on it.
The Nailbourne rises in Lyminge, under St Mary, the parish church, and once a Saxon monastery and probably a Roman site before then.
The stream springs from the ground, in the lea of the wall besde the road, meanders across the plating field then goes through the village.
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The Little Stour is one of the tributaries of the River Stour in the English county of Kent. The upper reaches of the river are better known as the Nailbourne, whilst the lower reaches were once known as the Seaton Navigation.
The intermittent source of the river is at Lyminge, and in its early reaches from Lyminge to Littlebourne it forms a chalk stream and winterbourne that is normally known as the Nailbourne. Below Littlebourne the river is better known as the Little Stour, and it joins with the Great Stour at Plucks Gutter near East Stourmouth.
The Nailbourne flows from Lyminge, through the Elham Valley until it becomes known as the Little Stour at Littlebourne.
The Nailbourne bubbles up beneath St Ethelburga's Well in Tayne Field in the centre of Lyminge. Whilst the stream often holds a plentiful supply of water from Lyminge to Elham throughout the year, it rarely holds any water from Elham to Bishopsbourne even in the winter months. However, in wet years the normally dry ditch can turn into a fast flowing torrent, flooding roads, fields and houses. An example of this was in 2001 when there was extensive flooding throughout the Elham Valley.
There are a number of minor tributaries that flow into the Nailbourne throughout the Elham Valley. Most are nameless although Ordnance Survey maps do mark a stream known as the East Brooke which runs from Etchinghill and joins the Nailbourne at Lyminge.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Stour
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Æthelburh of Kent (born 601,[1] sometimes spelled Æthelburg, Ethelburga, Æthelburga; Old English: Æþelburh, Æðelburh, Æðilburh, also known as Tate or Tata),[2][3] was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity.
Æthelburh would have been born in the late 6th century, as the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent (sometimes spelled Aethelberht) and his queen Bertha, and sister of Eadbald. In 625, she married Edwin of Northumbria as his second wife. A condition of their marriage was Edwin's conversion to Christianity and the acceptance of Paulinus's mission to convert the Northumbrians.[4][5]
Æthelburh’s children with Edwin were: Eanflæd, Ethelhun, Wuscfrea and Edwen.
Her daughter Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle, King Eadbald of Kent. Bede, Ecclesiastical History (2.20) states that Æthelburh did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor Oswald, with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King Dagobert I (her mother's cousin).
King Edwin’s conversion was due to his marriage to Æthelburh, who brought her bishop Paulinus with her. Both Æthelburh and her mother, Bertha, received letters from popes Gregory and Boniface respectively, urging them to do their Christian duty by converting their pagan husbands.Their daughter Eanflaed was one of the first to be baptized in Northumbria.[6] After King Edwin was wounded, Æthelburh's alarm caused an early onset of childbirth. Both the mother, as well as the infant, appeared to be in danger. The prayers of Paulinus were offered for the queen and child. After they recovered, 12 of the royal households, as well as the baby, were baptized by Edwin’s permission and request.[7]
According to the Kentish Royal Legend, after Edwin's death at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633, she returned to Kent. She then established one of the first Benedictine nunneries in England, at Lyminge, near Folkestone, which she led until her death in 647, and where her remains were later venerated.[5]
Modern research has shown that the buildings at Lyminge were designed to contain a convent of monks as well as of nuns. The church is built from Roman masonry, and was possibly built out of the fragments of a villa, which was customary practice by Anglo-Saxons, or it may have been a Roman basilica
St Ethelburga's Well, the source of the Nailbourne aka the Little Stour, Lyminge, Kent
With the winter we have had here in Kent, not as wet as some I admit, it seems that today would be a good day to go on a tour of the Nailbourne.
The Nailbourne, is a winterbourne, a river or stream that only flows in winter or wet weather, mostly of chalk downlands, and sometimes can flow through the chalk rather than on it.
The Nailbourne rises in Lyminge, under St Mary, the parish church, and once a Saxon monastery and probably a Roman site before then.
The stream springs from the ground, in the lea of the wall besde the road, meanders across the plating field then goes through the village.
-------------------------------------------
The Little Stour is one of the tributaries of the River Stour in the English county of Kent. The upper reaches of the river are better known as the Nailbourne, whilst the lower reaches were once known as the Seaton Navigation.
The intermittent source of the river is at Lyminge, and in its early reaches from Lyminge to Littlebourne it forms a chalk stream and winterbourne that is normally known as the Nailbourne. Below Littlebourne the river is better known as the Little Stour, and it joins with the Great Stour at Plucks Gutter near East Stourmouth.
The Nailbourne flows from Lyminge, through the Elham Valley until it becomes known as the Little Stour at Littlebourne.
The Nailbourne bubbles up beneath St Ethelburga's Well in Tayne Field in the centre of Lyminge. Whilst the stream often holds a plentiful supply of water from Lyminge to Elham throughout the year, it rarely holds any water from Elham to Bishopsbourne even in the winter months. However, in wet years the normally dry ditch can turn into a fast flowing torrent, flooding roads, fields and houses. An example of this was in 2001 when there was extensive flooding throughout the Elham Valley.
There are a number of minor tributaries that flow into the Nailbourne throughout the Elham Valley. Most are nameless although Ordnance Survey maps do mark a stream known as the East Brooke which runs from Etchinghill and joins the Nailbourne at Lyminge.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Stour
------------------------------------------
Æthelburh of Kent (born 601,[1] sometimes spelled Æthelburg, Ethelburga, Æthelburga; Old English: Æþelburh, Æðelburh, Æðilburh, also known as Tate or Tata),[2][3] was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity.
Æthelburh would have been born in the late 6th century, as the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent (sometimes spelled Aethelberht) and his queen Bertha, and sister of Eadbald. In 625, she married Edwin of Northumbria as his second wife. A condition of their marriage was Edwin's conversion to Christianity and the acceptance of Paulinus's mission to convert the Northumbrians.[4][5]
Æthelburh’s children with Edwin were: Eanflæd, Ethelhun, Wuscfrea and Edwen.
Her daughter Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle, King Eadbald of Kent. Bede, Ecclesiastical History (2.20) states that Æthelburh did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor Oswald, with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King Dagobert I (her mother's cousin).
King Edwin’s conversion was due to his marriage to Æthelburh, who brought her bishop Paulinus with her. Both Æthelburh and her mother, Bertha, received letters from popes Gregory and Boniface respectively, urging them to do their Christian duty by converting their pagan husbands.Their daughter Eanflaed was one of the first to be baptized in Northumbria.[6] After King Edwin was wounded, Æthelburh's alarm caused an early onset of childbirth. Both the mother, as well as the infant, appeared to be in danger. The prayers of Paulinus were offered for the queen and child. After they recovered, 12 of the royal households, as well as the baby, were baptized by Edwin’s permission and request.[7]
According to the Kentish Royal Legend, after Edwin's death at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633, she returned to Kent. She then established one of the first Benedictine nunneries in England, at Lyminge, near Folkestone, which she led until her death in 647, and where her remains were later venerated.[5]
Modern research has shown that the buildings at Lyminge were designed to contain a convent of monks as well as of nuns. The church is built from Roman masonry, and was possibly built out of the fragments of a villa, which was customary practice by Anglo-Saxons, or it may have been a Roman basilica