Lindisfarne Priory, original home to the Lindisfarne Gospels, was an important centre of early Christianity
St Aidan founded the first monastery here in AD 635, but St Cuthbert, Prior of Lindisfarne, is the most celebrated of the priory's holy men. After many missionary journeys, and ten years as a hermit on lonely Farne Island, he reluctantly became bishop before retiring to die on Farne in 687. Buried in the priory, his remains were transferred to a pilgrim shrine there after 11 years, and found still undecayed - regarded as a sure sign of sanctity. From the end of the 8th century, the isolated island with its rich monastery was easy prey for Viking raiders. So in 875 the monks left, carrying Cuthbert's remains, which after long wanderings through northern England were enshrined in Durham Cathedral in 1104, where they still rest. Only after that time did Benedictine Durham monks re-establish a priory on Lindisfarne. The evocative ruins of the richly decorated priory church they began in c. 1150 still stand, with its fine west front, characteristic round arches and famous 'rainbow arch' - a vault-rib of the now-vanished crossing tower. Extensive remains of the monastic living quarters also survive. The small community lived quietly on Holy Island until the suppression of the monastery in by Henry VIII in 1537.
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Location: Lindisfarne Priory Hollly Island England
Photo credit: © David Patterson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: building, castle, cuthbert, david, east, england, holy, island, lindisfarne, monastic, north, patterson, priory, ruin, st
