Camino means ‘path’ or ‘way’ in
Spanish. In English camino is increasingly
being used to mean a pilgrimage or spiritual journey. The most well-known camino in the
English-speaking world is probably the pilgrimage way to the shrine of St James
(Santiago) at Compostela in north-west Spain.
In Kent, the Augustine Camino
from Rochester to the shrine of St Augustine in Ramsgate, for example, was
established in 2015. The Royal Kentish
Camino joins the growing list of caminos, or pilgrimage routes, that now exist
in Kent.
Why
is this route called a Camino?
In
1885, bones were discovered hidden in the wall of St Mary and St Eanswythe’s
church in Folkestone. In 2020,
scientific tests showed these bones were of a young woman who died aged between
17 and 22 around the year 660 AD. This
matches the few details of the life of St
Eanswythe that we know, including that she was buried in the church
she founded. The most plausible
explanation is that these are her bones, hidden when her shrine was destroyed
on the orders of King Henry VIII. There
is no other shrine in the British Isles still housing the relics of its
original founding saint after almost 1,400 years. The Royal Kentish Camino may be a modern
route, but importantly it does end at a shrine.
This is a very ancient shrine, dating back to the earliest days of
Christianity in England following the arrival of the mission of St
Augustine. Visiting St Eanswythe’s
shrine in Folkestone is a unique experience.
Return to Royal Kentish Camino
This page is managed by the Lyminge Parish Council Historic Environment Working Group