A SAINTLY relic of the martyred Thomas Becket, that has been kept in East Lancashire for more than 400 years, has been reunited with one kept in Hungary.

Part of the skull of the 12th Century archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered inside the city’s cathedral in 1170, has been stored at Stonyhurst College in the Ribble Valley since the 1500s.

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An elbow fragment that has been kept safe in Hungary for hundreds of years returned to England this week and the relics were reunited for the first time in 800 years.

Several thousand people turned out to view the historical artefacts at Westminster Cathedral on Monday ahead of a week-long commemoration of the martyr.

Jan Graffius, Stonyhurst College’s curator, said: “The Stonyhurst fragment was displayed on the high altar with the Hungarian fragment on Monday. It was quite an occasion.

“There were 40 archbishops and cardinals and the mass was entirely in Latin as Becket would have understood it. It was very moving. After the mass, people could say a prayer besides the relics or just look at them.

“People only had a few seconds but everyone was in line to see them.Henry VIII made an attempt to destroy as much of his body as possible, so there are not many fragments left.

“Ours was rescued in the 1540s and it came to us in about 1595 because our school, at the time, was the focus of anything rescued during the Reformation.”

The skull fragment, belonging to the British Jesuit Province, was joined by a fragment of bone believed to come from the archbishop’s arm, which was held by the Basilica of Esztergom in Hungary.

The relic has now returned to the college where it is preserved in a decorative gold case.

Yesterday afternoon, a public service was held at Becket’s birthplace, Cheapside, in St Magnus the Martyr Church.

His relic is due to return to Westminster Abbey before travelling to Rochester on Saturday and then on to Canterbury, with a final service at 1.30pm on Sunday.

Mrs Graffius started organising the skull fragment’s journey to London more than one year ago and she accompanied the relic to and from the cathedral.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols received the relic at Westminster Cathedral on Monday, marking the start of the pilgrimage.

Over the course of the week, senior clerics from the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches will hold services as part of the commemoration.

Thomas Becket was murdered by knights of King Henry II in 1170, eight years after becoming the archbishop of Canterbury.

Four swordsmen were responsible for the bloody attack in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29.

He was canonised by Pope Alexander III and is revered as a saint and a martyr by the Catholic and Anglican churches.