Archaeologists and volunteers unearthed an ancient watercourse, said to have been created by an Anglo-Saxon princess who made water flow up-hill to her abbey.

So advanced was the engineering it was believed the 7th century princess Saint Eanswythe performed a miracle in Folkestone - by apparently defying physics.

The excavation, carried out by Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury Archaeological Trust and volunteers, recently revealed part of an ancient aqueduct off Cherry Garden Lane.

Speaking after the find Christ Church lecturer Dr Lesley Hardy said: “We are very grateful to all of our volunteers and supporters and to Folkestone and Hythe District Council for permission to excavate on their land.

"This is an incredibly important project for the town.

“The watercourse, alongside mystery of Eanswythe’s relics which appear to have survived, hidden in the walls of the Parish Church are of national heritage significance, and we will be working to raise funding and seek permissions so that

they can be fully understood and protected.”

The community project, dubbed Finding Eanswythe, has involved hundreds of people to learn more about the 7th century princess, a Kentish royal saint and granddaughter of Ethelbert.

Ethelbert was the first English king to convert to Christianity under Augustine.

Dr Andrew Richardson, of Canterbury Archaeological Trust who was in charge of the dig, welcomed the find.

The archaeologist, who comes from Folkestone, said: “The hard work of volunteers has certainly paid off and we have located what appears to be a series of clay lined ditches which demonstrate that the watercourse was maintained over many centuries.

He added: “We know it existed, there are borough council minutes still in existence discussing the maintenance of the watercourse.

“There is also quite a lot of mention of ‘dipping’, where people took the water from the watercourse illegally."

The excavation took place at the Morehall Recreation Ground, near Cheriton from October 6 and included the help of the Canterbury Young Archaeologists Club.

It is believed Eanswythe enabled water to travel uphill to one of the earliest monastic communities in England (c. 630AD) on the Bayle, the historic centre of Folkestone.

Funded by a £100,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Finding Eanswythe will run until February 2019 and hopes to answer more of the mysteries surrounding the princess.

The project was supported by the council as landowner, as well as the Heritage Lottery Fund The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, Kent County Council and Folkestone Town Council, together with St Mary and St Eanswythe Church and Affinity Water.