Could some of Lewinna's bones be buried still beneath a local church?

Balgerus came from St Winoc's Abbey at Bergues which is about ten kilometres south-east of Dunkirk and he was something of a medieval Indiana Jones, in that he collected ancient relics. He had already visited England once before when he had obtained the bones of St Oswald the King and St Idaberga, a Mercian Saint. These relics probably made him and his abbey rich, so in 1058 he set off again to find more holy remains. We know about this expedition because his Abbot tasked a chronicler called Drogo to document his adventures.

Balgerus was due to land at Dover but a strong north wind sent his ship drifting down the channel for two days until the captain managed to make land at 'the harbour called Sevordt'. He describes the port as being a 'ford of the sea used as a crossing place by people coming to the shore ... the entrance to the harbour is so narrow that two ships can hardly enter it abreast. A lofty ridge slopes down into a ridge, breaking the force of the waves. Ships need no anchor there to make them fast, nor cables to stay their rolling but lay there becalmed.' This is one of the first-ever descriptions of our town, although there are some people who believe that, despite the name, the landing place of Balgerus was actually Cuckmere Haven.

It was Easter Monday (April 18, 1058) and, while the sailors rested, Balgerus landed to find a church in which to worship. Seeing one in the distance he set off with a companion but half way he stopped as he felt ill. While he rested on a rock a mysterious stranger appeared and told him that the church ahead was dedicated to St Andrew and that within the church lay the body of St Lewinna. Lewinna was a local girl who had been put to death by the Saxons because of her Christian beliefs. She is known to have lived in the Seaford area and was buried in the year 690 at a church 'three leagues (about two kilometres) from the sea'.

When Balgerus arrived at the church he noticed that St Lewinna was venerated by the local people, who had hung pieces of parchment around the walls of the church extolling the miracles attributed to her. Balgerus resolved to take the saint's relics back to his abbey by hook or by crook.

Chatting away to the priest in Latin, our monk first tried the direct approach and asked the priest if he could take a few bones back with him to Flanders. The priest was horrified and chastised Balgerus who blushed and apologised. So he asked to pray at the shrine for a while. The priest being suspicious ensured that the monk was accompanied but during his prayers he managed to sneak his hand into the saint's coffin and feel her bones, which were wrapped in a red sack. He stayed up all night and the following morning when his guard left, he tried to remove the coffin but it was fixed fast and did not budge. He therefore removed some of the bones, placed them in a linen bag and gave them to his companion who returned to the ship. Balgerus remained at the church to belay any suspicion.

The monk was eventually re-united with the stolen bones back in Flanders and took them in triumph to his abbey. The bones were put into an elaborate casket and paraded around the towns and villages of the area where even more miracles were said to have been witnessed.

In 1224 the relics were moved to an even grander shrine but the abbey was sacked in 1383 by Norman troops who stole them despite an attempt to hide them behind a false wall. The bones were later returned but in 1558 the abbey was burnt by French Protestants and only one rib was recovered. The abbey was closed down in 1791 when all the monks and relics were moved to nearby St Martin's church and two years later the building was destroyed (apart from two towers which can still be seen) A small piece of bone however still exists at Bergues.

But which church did Balgerus visit? There are several dedicated to St Andrew near Seaford. Historian Mark Anthony Lower thought it was St Andrew's in Alfriston and the Sussex County Magazine of 1927 gave the case for St Andrew's in Jevington. Beddingham also has a St Andrew's. I personally think the church was St Andrew's at Bishopstone although it is impossible to solve the case 950 years after the event. It is likely, however, that some small fragments of St Lewinna are still buried, long forgotten, under one of our local churches.