Metal detectorist reunites nun with gold ring she lost 60 years ago in Thanet

• ITV Meridian's Abigail Bracken has been speaking to the nun following the discovery

A nun from Kent who lost a precious gold ring in a field 60 years ago has been reunited with it.

Sister John was given the piece of jewellery when she took her vows, having lived most of her adult life among the community of Benedictine nuns at Minster Abbey.

The 96-year-old lost the ring while she was plucking chickens in 1963 and said she didn't think she would see it again.

She said: "I took it as a miracle because I thought it was impossible. So everything is possible with the Lord. But I felt very privileged that the Lord was still caring for me."

The ring had been lying undiscovered in a field for decades until a metal detectorist dug it up in Thanet.

Upon finding it, it only took Ron Stevens minutes to trace the ring's original owner due to an unusual inscription in the metal.

He said: "I was just having a walk around the field, having a general swing around, and I got a signal. Initially I thought oh it's a washer. I thought no, that's gold, picked it up, felt the weight of it, and thought no that's definitely gold. The number inside 585 - so 14 carat gold - and read the inscription which was Jesus, John the Baptist."

Ron Stevens then spoke to a sister who happened to be passing by to try and find out more information about his discovery.

Sister Benedict said: "He hailed me down and said 'Sister, Sister' and he said, 'do you know someone called John the Baptist?' And I said, not personally, but I know of John the Baptist, an he showed me the ring and I said 'that's Sister John's ring'. And it was just amazing and I was just so happy and I knew that she would be so delighted."