Letter: Bishop's forerunner

Sir: The new 'flying' bishop of Ebbsfleet does not take his title from a Kent sandbank (report, 17 February). Ebbsfleet is now a tiny hamlet inland from Pegwell Bay. In AD 597, it was a point on the southern shore of the Isle of Tha-

net, where, reputedly, Augustine, Pope Gregory's emissary, landed.

Since Augustine's mission was not only to turn the Anglo-Saxons away from their polytheistic beliefs, but also to bring the Celtic Christians under the authority of Rome, it makes an appropiate see for the southern 'flying' bishop.

Yours faithfully,

MICHAEL STEED

Canterbury, Kent