Exploring the legacy of Ethelburga – a community project focused on the Anglo-Saxon heritage of Lyminge, a village in the Elham Valley in East Kent.
We have at last got to inspect in more detail the area where we think the west wall of the nave lay. When this area was cleaned initially back on Day 10, there was a fragment of the tell-tale pink mortar in a place that would make the nave twice the length of the chancel. … Continue reading Day 23 – The west wall revealed
We have begun to uncover the first burial within the chancel, which is up against the eastern wall of the Anglo-Saxon apse. This is a prominent position in the church. As the body is of a juvenile, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, it seems unlikely that this is a burial that took place when … Continue reading Day 22 – Face to face with a villager of the past
With the end of machining on site, we now have more volunteers available and can begin exploring what we hope are the remaining archaeological layers. We don't know what Canon Jenkins left, but we are hoping that he concentrated on the walls and left undisturbed archaeology for us to investigate. The coming weeks will reveal … Continue reading Day 13, Week 3 begins
This is the view we have been waiting for. With the overlying path removed, we can now see the full extent of the chancel with its apsidal (curved) eastern end. The walls are not preserved to a great height, so we are very fortunate that they survive at all. We haven't got down to the … Continue reading Day 10 – The whole chancel apse is revealed
The picture above shows what appears to be the end of the chancel and the beginning of the nave of the Anglo-Saxon church. You can see that the wall turns, causing the width of the nave (at the top of the picture) to be greater than the width of the chancel (at the bottom of … Continue reading Day 9 – Re-interpreting Canon Jenkins’ discoveries
