Lyminge Abbey was an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

about four miles northwest of

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

on the south coast of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It was one of the first religious houses to be founded in England.

History

Æthelburh of Kent Æthelburh of Kent (born c. 601, sometimes spelled ''Æthelburg'', ''Ethelburga, Æthelburga''; , also known as ''Tate or Tata),'' Stowe 944: ' was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a C ...

(Ethelburga) was the daughter of the Christian King

Æthelberht of Kent Æthelberht (; also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert or Ethelbert; ; 550 – 24 February 616) was Kings of Kent, King of Kingdom of Kent, Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his ''Ecclesiastical Hist ...

. She married

King Edwin of Northumbria Edwin (; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from around 616 until his death. He was the second monarch to rule bo ...

in 625, an important event in the transmission of Christianity from Kent to the north of England as his conversion was a condition of their marriage. After Edwin was killed at the

Battle of Hatfield Chase The Battle of Hatfield Chase (; ) was fought on 12 October 633 It pitted the Northumbrians against an alliance of Gwynedd and Mercia. The Northumbrians were led by Edwin and the Gwynedd-Mercian alliance was led by Cadwallon ap Cadfan and Penda. ...

in 633, Ethelburga returned to Kent to become abbess of a new nunnery and convent at Lyminge. When she died in 647 she was venerated as a saint. Lyminge suffered from numerous

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raids due to its particular vulnerability, and its people were subsequently taken refuge for protection in the city of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

by 804. The exact location of the abbey is not known but is believed to be around

Lyminge Lyminge is a village and civil parish in southeast Kent, England. It lies about five miles (8 km) from Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel, on the road passing through the Elham Valley. At the 2011 Census the population of Etchinghill, Kent ...

church, which is dedicated to St Mary and St Ethelburga.

References

Monasteries in Kent {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub