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.
After a great start yesterday, we started Day 2 of our inaugural pilgrimage at Lyminge, close to the source of the Nailbourne as it bubbles up from the chalk below the church of St Mary and St Ethelburga. We walked along the Elham Valley Way to St Mary the Virgin, Elham, and then on beyond … Continue reading Launch of the Royal Saxon Way – Day 2
So we have reached the end of the dig. The last planning was completed today and we had a drone on site to complete a photogrammetrical survey from the air. This will give us a set of perfectly vertical overlapping pictures so we have a complete image of the site tied in via GPS so … Continue reading Day 45 – The end of the dig
The Royal Saxon Way is our new pilgrimage route linking Folkestone to Minster-in-Thanet via Lyminge and the Elham Valley. It celebrates the Anglo-Saxon queens and princesses who founded and ran as abbesses some of the churches along the route. You can read more here, and discover more about this little-known aspect of Anglo-Saxon society which … Continue reading Launch of the Royal Saxon Way – Day 1
Today was another day of planning as we carry out the last few tasks necessary before the dig ends on Saturday. We had our architect and contractors on site today to begin planning for the back-filling and the laying of the new paths. This should begin in the middle of September, so there will remain … Continue reading Day 44 – The wrap-up continues
It was a day of recording on site today, so no discoveries to report. Although we did keep out the finds table from the weekend Open Day, and we did have a steady flow of visitors through the day. We were visited by 25 members of the Friends of Canterbury Archaeological Trust and the Finding … Continue reading Day 43 – The final week begins
As Monday is a bank holiday, there is no working on site today. So there was an opportunity to visit the Roman fort of Portus Lemanis, some 6.4 miles to the south west of Lyminge towards the coast. In the Roman period, this fort lay at the mouth of the River East Rother, then known … Continue reading Site visit to the possible folk origin for Lyminge
It was a warm day and for once we had excellent conditions for the site tour: no rain, no wind. We had some 85 visitors crowding the viewing platform, which was a great turn-out. From a straw poll, about half those attending were seeing the site for the first time. We started off looking at … Continue reading Day 42 – The last site tour
The team spent today planning so there were no finds as such. There were more planning boards and tapes around than trowels. However, we have come across an image that is of interest for Lyminge as it shows the tragic demolition of St Mary's church at Reculver in 1809. This church was originally built in … Continue reading Day 41 – A quiet day on site
The last area of the Anglo-Saxon church to be explored is the area under the porch. We had contractors on site to lift the flagstones. Underneath the porch, as we suspected, the substructure is precarious to say the least and needs to be addressed before the flagstones are replaced. We have found the nave wall … Continue reading Day 40 – The last area of the Anglo-Saxon church uncovered
After all the publicity of yesterday, it was a busy day on site with upwards of 60 visitors throughout the day, many of them encouraged to come by the news report on the BBC News. It was also busy because the laser scanning of the church was in progress. This will allow us to produce … Continue reading Day 39 – A busy day on site
