Minster - in - Thanet, AD 670 - Kent.
Posted by: 
MeerRescue
N 51° 19.858 E 001° 18.972
31U E 382694 N 5687976
The village sign of Minster -in - Thanet, Kent.
Waymark Code: WMF3CB
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/16/2012
Views: 2
This is one of a pair of Village signs in Minster
in Thanet. This one is located in Station Road outside St Mary the
Virgin church, the other in Tothill Street.
The sign depicts a white hind. Ermenburga, a great granddaughter of King Ethelbert of Kent, came to
Thanet in AD 670 from the Kingdom of Mercia
where her husband was ruler, following the murder of her brother's
after a dispute with King Egbert of Kent. Rather than claim the
customary blood money or 'wergild' for the murder of her brother's,
Ermenburga asked the repentant King Egbert of Kent for land on which
she could build a house of prayer. The King readily agreed. According
to ancient legend, Ermenburga sent her tame hind (deer) on a free
course, and the path which the animal took determined the boundaries
of the monastic land, and the white hind has become the symbol of
Minster.