An archaeologist has helped solve a medieval mystery about a thieving monk.

Gabor Thomas' work has finally laid to rest a centuries-old argument about where in Sussex the errant monk did his pilfering.

The story began when a ship was forced to take shelter from a storm one Easter Sunday in the 11th Century and a monk among the passengers travelled to a nearby church to praise God.

But he left with the remains of St Lewinna hidden in his luggage, which became a famed money-spinner for his monastery at Bergues, near Dunkirk.

A cult built up around the relics of St Lewinna, a woman who lived during the reign of Saxon King Egbert and whose bones were said to have miraculous healing powers.

The tale was later written down by the monks of Bergues, larceny and all.

The old manuscript describes an anchorage that is almost certainly Seaford Bay and a church called St Andrew's, provoking an argument which has lasted until today.

Alfriston, Bishopstone and Jevington each has a church named after St Andrew and each has claimed to be the place of the monk's profitable theft.

Dr Thomas used the tale to direct his team towards Bishopstone where they discovered a lost Anglo-Saxon village and the probable answer to the mystery.

Excavation leader Dr Thomas said: "Of the three candidates, Bishopstone is the only one that can be clearly seen from an anchorage in that bay and it was an important religious centre.

"What the work has done is provide a much stronger context to prove Bishopstone as the candidate. We have got all this Anglo-Saxon activity centred around the church."

Dr Thomas' dig, which is about to enter its third and final summer, is shedding new light on the origins of Sussex villages, which mostly date from the later Anglo-Saxon period, a time when people were moving from the hills to the lowlands and river valleys.

His team has slowly unearthed a small group of timber-framed buildings with thatched roofs, the largest with an indoor lavatory, grouped around the famous 8th Century church.

The inhabitants of Anglo-Saxon Bishopstone were relatively well off - proved by the discovery of cooking pots, household implements, jewellery and coins, many of them minted in France.

Dr Thomas, who is based at the University of Kent, said: "Some of these people could afford to dress up to the nines and wear fashionable clothes.

"It suggests this was not just a community of peasants living in hovels but people who had disposable incomes.

"The present-day obsession of nipping over the Channel and coming back with loads of wine was something that was going on during that period."

Another insight into the lives of the early villagers has been provided by skeletons found buried outside the modern graveyard, although the bones have not yet been fully analysed.

This summer's work will concentrate on finding out whether the village was a lordly or religious settlement, exploring boundaries and ditches, and trying to find out if there was once a monastery at Bishopstone.

This Anglo-Saxon village is unusual because it was founded at the same time as many others but quickly abandoned.

Dr Thomas said: "This is the first time a Sussex village has been subject to this kind of investigation.

"It is difficult to dig in existing villages because they are all built up. We have got this window into the Anglo-Saxon world right smack bang on the village green."

The Sussex Archaeological Society dig has been partly funded by running week-long training courses.

Courses, priced £180 and starting in early August, are tailored for beginners and no previous experience is needed. For more details, call Alison Lawrence on 01273 405730.