Folkestone: The skeletal remains found more than 100 years ago from Foxton in England are said to have belonged to Einswith, the granddaughter of the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelbert and one of the earliest saints in England. AD St. Einswith, who lived in the year 660, was the mediator of the coastal town of Foxton. Ainsworth, who is believed to be the founder of one of the earliest monastic communities for women in England, dies at the age of twenty. The history of another saint, which has been hidden for centuries, has been unveiled with the confirmation of the scriptures.
In 1885, restoration workers at the Holy Virgin Mary and St. Enswith’s church near the port of Folkestone found the remains of the burial coffin. The residue was a bone fragment that covered about half of a skeleton. It is thought that these were hidden in the walls so as not to be destroyed during the Renaissance. Although these have been assumed to be holy Ainsworth, experts have recently been able to perform radiocarbon tests on them.
Radiocarbon dating at Queen’s University, Belfast, to determine the antiquity of the remains, is evident from a man who lived in the middle of the 7th century. The researchers, meanwhile, are planning to publish the results of the study, which will be held at the St. Mary’s St. Ainsworth Church. There are plans to conduct further tests, such as DNA testing. The new discovery is expected to lead to a pilgrimage to the church of Enswith, one of the earliest saints in England.
