Sister Ancilla Dent, OSB (born 3 June 1933) is an English Roman Catholic nun, ecological activist, and writer.
Born as The Honourable Rosamond Mary Dent, she took the religious name of Sister Ancilla upon becoming a Benedictine nun. She was a nun at St Mildred's Abbey, Minster-in-Thanet in Kent, England. The elder daughter of William Dent and his wife, Mary, the 19th Baroness Furnivall (27 May 1900 – 24 December 1968), she and her younger sister, Patricia Bence (born 4 April 1935), are the descendants of Barons Furnivall. [1] The barony has been in abeyance since 1968.
Minster, also known as Minster-in-Thanet, is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. The village is west of Ramsgate and to the north east of Canterbury; it lies just south west of Kent International Airport and just north of the River Stour. Minster is also the "ancient capital of Thanet". At the 2011 Census the hamlet of Ebbsfleet was included.
Æthelthryth was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon saint, and is also known as Etheldreda or Audrey, especially in religious contexts. Her father was King Anna of East Anglia, and her siblings were Wendreda and Seaxburh of Ely, both of whom eventually retired from secular life and founded abbeys.
Baron Furnivall is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was originally created when Thomas de Furnivall was summoned to the Model Parliament on 24 June 1295 as Lord Furnivall. The barony eventually passed to Thomas Nevill, who had married the first baron's descendant Joan de Furnivall, and he was summoned to parliament in her right. Their daughter, Maud de Neville, married John Talbot, who was also summoned to parliament in her right. He was later created Earl of Shrewsbury. On the death of the seventh earl in 1616, the barony fell into abeyance. The abeyance was terminated naturally in favour of the earl's daughter Alethea Howard in 1651 and passed through her to the Dukes of Norfolk. On the death of the ninth Duke in 1777, the barony again fell into abeyance. In 1913 the abeyance was terminated again in favour of Mary Frances Katherine Petre, daughter of Bernard Petre, 14th Baron Petre. Through her father she was a great-great-great-granddaughter of the ninth Baron Petre and his first wife Anne Howard, niece of the ninth Duke of Norfolk, who became co-heir to the Barony on her uncle's death in 1777. On Lady Furnivall's death in 1968 the barony fell into abeyance for the third time.
Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin, is the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in the English town of Reading. Although eclipsed in importance by the later Reading Abbey, Reading Minster regained its status after the destruction of the Abbey and is now an Anglican parish church. The minster gives its name to the street of St Mary's Butts, on which it stands.
Quiet as a Nun is a thriller novel, written by Antonia Fraser. First published in 1977, it features Fraser's sleuthing heroine Jemima Shore as she revisits the convent school where she was educated following the mysterious death of one of the nuns. A six-part television dramatisation of the book was part of ITV's anthology series Armchair Thriller in 1978.
Seaxburh, also Saint Sexburga of Ely was a Queen as well as an abbess, and is a saint of the Christian Church. She was married to King Eorcenberht of Kent.
Wimborne Minster is the parish church of Wimborne, Dorset, England. The minster has existed for over 1300 years and is recognised for its unusual chained library. The minster is a former monastery and Benedictine nunnery, and King Æthelred of Wessex is buried there.
Saint Mildrith, also Mildthryth, Mildryth and Mildred,, was a 7th and 8th-century Anglo-Saxon abbess of the Abbey at Minster-in-Thanet, Kent. She was declared a saint after her death, and later her remains were moved to Canterbury.
Saint Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet was a princess of Wessex, and abbess of Minster-in-Thanet. She is regarded as a saint.
Minster Abbey is the name of two abbeys in Minster-in-Thanet, Kent, England. The first was a 7th-century foundation which lasted until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Beside its ruins is St Mildred's Priory, a Benedictine community of women founded in 1937.
Sister Concordia Scott was a Scottish sculptor and Benedictine nun, of the Minster Abbey community, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent. Her commissioned works have included statues for Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, Coventry Cathedral and the National Shrine of Wales as well as numerous sculptures currently in Europe and the United States of America.
Hildelith of Barking, also known as Hildilid or Hildelitha, was an 8th-century Christian saint, from Anglo-Saxon England but of foreign origin.
Mærwynn, also known as St. Merewenna or Merwinna, was a 10th-century saint and abbess of Romsey Abbey.