Minster Abbey is situated a few miles from Ebbsfleet, the place where St. Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great, landed in 597 to begin his mission to the Anglo-Saxon people. Within a few years of his arrival on the shores of Thanet, Christianity had spread throughout southern England, and monastic life began to flourish. The name Minster is derived from the first mynster or monasterium/ monastery built here in 670 by St. Domneva, a princess from the royal house of Kent. Her daughter Mildred became the second Abbess, one of the best loved Anglo-Saxon Saints and patron of Thanet. The history of the foundation of Minster Abbey is well documented in the old chronicles, and supported by several charters of the Kings of Kent.