Church Micro 2201…Lyminge St Mary & St Ethelburga Multi-cache
Church Micro 2201…Lyminge St Mary & St Ethelburga
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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St Mary & St Ethelburga Lyminge
The visible remains of the original Church, erected by Queen Ethelburga soon after she came here in 633, are to the east of the porch. The eastern apse where the altar stood, and the beginnings of the rectangular nave (the north wall of which is continued under the present porch) can be seen clearly. The massive stones revealed by excavations to the south-west of the tower seems to indicate that the original church extended westwards, probably before 840 when the Danes ravaged the Abbey.
At one time a very large Roman Villa stood somewhere in the Lyminge area but the exact location is not known. It is possible that it was actually on the same site where the Church currently stands but this has never been proven. All that can be said is that the Church does have Roman tiles incorporated in its stonework although this is fairly common for churches in Kent. In addition to the Roman tiles there is some very unusual herring-bone stonework on the exterior of the South-East corner near to another unusual feature which is a flying buttress built in the late thirteen century across the path up to the door of the Church.
The actual Saxon charters relating to Lyminge are some of the oldest church documents in England and are, in fact, preserved in The British Museum. 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.
The published co-ords will take close to a stone tablet in the South wall of the Church marking the burial place of Queen Ethelburga.
The cache can be found at N 51 07.ABC E 001 05.DEF
A= Number of letters in third word of first line
B= Number of letters in the fourth word of forth line
C= Number of W’s on stone tablet
D= Number of K's on the third line
E= Number of letters in the second word of second line minus the number of letters in the third word of the second line
F= Number of letters in the first word of the third line
The cache is a short walk away on public footpath. If you dont sign the log book dont log it online.
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats page found via the Bookmark list”
Latest maintenance mission ..... 02 Oct 2016
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybbx ybj