FOR FOR YOUR REGULAR DOSE OF DORSET ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX ON THE RIGHT!
Looking somewhat like a water-damaged Clark's shoebox, this humble lead casket tells a mighty story. It held the remains of an English king and for centuries was the focus of veneration and pilgrimage to the Abbey.
The king was Edward the Martyr, son of the Saxon king, Edgar. Crowned at only sixteen, Edward was murdered soon after at Corfe Castle and his remains interred in Shaftesbury Abbey around 979 AD. Edward was canonised in 1001AD and his feast day became one of national celebration.
He was obviously not a smoker because centuries later Edward's lungs, kept in a glass jar, were reportedly still breathing...
Lost for centuries receptacle and bones were discovered during an archaeological dig in1933 and while the box remains above ground Edward's bones were eventually reinterred in a cemetery in... Woking...but that's another story...
The Abbey Museum stands next to the site of Shaftesbury Abbey; once home to Britain's the leading Benedictine community for women.
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