Photo story: Reliquary ready

The church artist Sophie Hacker delivers to St Mary & St Eanswythe, Folkestone, a recent reliquary to deal with the bones of St Eanswythe, a seventh-century English saint and the founding abbess of certainly one of the primary monastic institutions in England to incorporate women, who is widely known on 12 September. The design, inspired by an early Anglo-Saxon casket within the British Museum (News, 22 September 2023), won a contest launched last yr (News, 10 February 2023). The stays — considered the earliest verified stays of an English saint — were discovered in 1885 within the church’s north wall, where they’re said to have been hidden through the Reformation. It was not until 2020, nonetheless, that scientific evaluation confirmed that they were St Eanswythe’s (News, 13 March 2020). The reliquary might be available to view on 14 and 15 September, after which it would be returned to protected keeping until 17 November, when a celebratory service will happen