Orthodox Christians have made a pilgrimage to the first resting place of an East Anglian saint in Dereham.

The pilgrims paid tribute to Saint Withburga - who was said to be the daughter of the king of East Anglia, Anna, in the 8th Century.

She died on March 17, 743, and was buried in the grounds of St Nicholas, the town’s parish church.

Half a century later her body was taken out of her tomb - said to be uncorrupted by age or decay - and was re-interred in Ely. 

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After this, her original tomb - which is directly behind the church - became a place of pilgrimage. 

William Harrison, Subdeacon at Saint Fursey’s Orthodox Church in Stalham, said: “Her sister Etheldreda - Audrey - is much more famous and well known, but this group of pilgrims were determined to remember and celebrate St Withburga on the day she died.” 

St Withburga built a convent at Dereham, and was said to have been helped by the Virgin Mary, who sent two wild does to supply milk to the builders.

This legend is remembered on Dereham’s town sign.