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Photo story: Reliquary ready

06 September 2024

Sophie Hacker

The church artist Sophie Hacker delivers to St Mary & St Eanswythe, Folkestone, a new reliquary to house the bones of St Eanswythe, a seventh-century English saint and the founding abbess of one of the first monastic institutions in England to include women, who is celebrated on 12 September. The design, inspired by an early Anglo-Saxon casket in the British Museum (News, 22 September 2023), won a competition launched last year (News, 10 February 2023). The remains — thought to be the earliest verified remains of an English saint — were discovered in 1885 in the church’s north wall, where they are said to have been hidden during the Reformation. It was not until 2020, however, that scientific analysis confirmed that they were St Eanswythe’s (News, 13 March 2020). The reliquary will be available to view on 14 and 15 September, after which it will be returned to safe keeping until 17 November, when a celebratory service will take place

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