Dot & Ruby sitting outside "The Barn at Beal"
The view from "The Barn at Beal" - Holy Island and Castle to the left and Bamburgh Castle to the right.
It must be round about forty years ago that Dot and I discovered Holy Island (or Lindisfarne). For the first ten or so of those years we used to always stay on the island in a small bungalow at the side of the water tower.
We have probably visited Holy Island at least once every year in those forty years, but as the years have rolled on, we have changed from using Holy Island as a base to explore the surrounding Northumbrian coastline and countryside, and the Borders Region.
After about fifteen years of staying on Holy Island, we decided to spread our wings, and the Isle of Arran became an addition to our holiday destinations. However, the pull of Holy Island was not to be neglected, and we still always make some time to continue and visit (if not stay on) the island.
Four years ago we had an addition to the family in the shape of a much loved chocolate Labrador, which necessitated finding self catering accommodation which would allow dogs.
There seemed to be nowhere on Holy Island which took dogs, so we took a wonderful self catering cottage at Waren Mill, which is just a couple of miles north of Bamburgh. We have still continued to visit Holy Island.
This year our Waren Mill cottage had been booked for the weekend at the end of the week we had planned to stay, so it necessitated a search for somewhere else to stay for the last night of our holiday. On the Internet I came across an advert for the Crown and Anchor which is situated in the village square on Holy Island, and lo and behold, they had a room where you could take your dog! So I hastily booked our last nights stay there!
The Crown & Anchor, in the Village Square.
The Crown & Anchor - our bedroom was above the door, with great views of the Priory, Parish Church and the Harbour and Castle!
The Priory and Parish Church
The Herring Curing Houses, and Castle in the distance
I've said it before, (and I'll no doubt say it again!) you really can't capture Holy Island just with visual images. Like the photos of the sunset on Budle Bay, Holy Island is a mixture of ever changing light and shade, fascinating views, an aura of peace, tranquility and sanctity, an atmosphere and a hundred and one intangible things. You have to go there and experience it to be able to appreciate it.
So let's take a look around the village......
There are four or five obvious visitor attractions on the island.
1. Lindisfarne Priory
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.
The West Front of the Priory, with Lindisfarne Castle across the harbour
Lindisfarne Priory - the Rainbow Arch.
Statue of St Aidan designed and carved by an island resident Miss Kathleen Ophir Parbury, situated to the north side of the priory.
2. Lindisfrane Priory Museum
When we first used to come to Holy Island this was a small room in a shed! English Heritage have built a superb new building which houses some excellent displays covering the Priory, Celtic Crosses and stone work, and the religious history of the area.
The entrance to the Lindisfarne Priory Museum
Statue of St Aidan in the Museum
A monk & his assistant at work in the Scriptorium on the world famous Lindisfarne Gospels, The originals are kept in the British Museum.
A Celtic Cross
A Celtic Cross Shaft
3. The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin Holy Island
Located in the south west corner of the village, the Anglican church of St Mary the Virgin is reputed to stand on the site of the original monastery founded by St Aidan in 635 AD. Parts of the structure date back to the 7th century, several hundred years before the appearance of the Priory.
Holy Island Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin - south side
Holy Island Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin - East End
Holy Island Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin - West End
West Window in memory of Mr Edward & Miss Gladys de Stein (former owners of Lindisfarne Castle)
West Window - the Haggerston Window
West Window in memory of Miss Kathleen Ophir Parbury who designed & Carved the statue of St Aidan outside the church
Carpet with Lindisfarne Gospel designs in the Fisherman's chapel
The Font Cover
The St Peter's Aisle -the Fisherman's Chapel
Windows in St Peter's Chapel
East End - Altar, Reredos and Windows
Sanctuary Carpet with Celtic designs from the Lindisfarne Gospels sewn by island ladies
Reredos with Celtic Saints
4. The Gospel Garden
Situated in Marygate, opposite the Lindisfarne Heritage Centre, the Gospel Garden was based on a design from the 7th Century Lindisfarne Gospels. It was entered into the Chelsea Flower Sow in2003 and won the coveted Silver Medal.
Head of Parks & Gardens at Newcastle City Council, Stan Timmins (Who designed the garden) felt it should live on after the Chelsea Flower Show, so it was recreated on Holy Island.
5. The Lindisfarne Heritage Centre
This is a fairly recent project situated opposite the Gospel Garden in Marygate. It contains an electronic facsimile of the Lindisfarne Gospels and a history of the island and its villagers. There is also a section on natural history too.
The Lindisfarne Heritage Centre
6. Lindisfarne Castle
The castle is at the northern end of the harbour, perched high on Beblowe Crag, and is well worth a look round. It was purchased by Edward Hudson, the owner of Country Life Magazine, and he commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to carry out work so that it could be lived in. Gertrude Jekyll was also commissioned to recreate a garden about 200 yards from the rear of the castle. It later passed into the hands of the merchant banker Edward de Stein, and he lived in it with his spinster sister, Miss Gladys de Stein. It was eventually purchased by the National Trust, and is open for viewing.
The Castle from the harbour
The castle perched high on Beblowe Crag
The Castle through a hole in the wall of Fort Regent
7. The Lindisfarne Mead Factory & Shop
From time immemorial the monks of Lindisfarne have been associated with the manufacture of a honey based drink called mead, so it not too surprising to find a mead factory & shop on Holy Island.
The Mead Factory Sign
The Mead Factory & Shop
Around the Village.........
Holy Island Post Office - at the top of Marygate
Looking up Marygate
Looking down Marygate
Looking along Fiddlers Green
Fiddlers Green
St Cuthbert's Methodist Church on Fiddlers Green
Cottage in Village Square
Rosella Cottage
Junction of Marygate and Crossgates
Village Stores in Fenkle Street
A novel use for a pulpit in Pilgrim's Coffee House
Coffee at Pilgrim's Coffee House
Birds washing in the garden barrel at Pilgrim's Coffee House
The Heugh is a high point on the island, and out to sea you can see Bamburgh Castle on the coastline and Ross Bank Sands Navigation Towers. Whilst looking inland you see the Priory, and Parish Church.
Dot & Ruby on the Heugh
Bamburgh Castle viewed from the Heugh
Ross Bank Sands Navigation Towers (on the mainland)
The Parish Church, the Priory, and the white building, which is the Crown and Anchor (where we stayed)
Before a metalled road was built, the only way on to the island when the tide had receded was across the Pilgrim's Way, which is marked by posts.
I toured Lindesfarne Priory at 4:00 on a January afternoon back in 1989. We 45 minutes to see it before we had to leave, otherwise the tide would have kept us there overnight. In the fading light of the day, I got a few nice pictures of the site. I knew nothing about the Lindesfaren castle. Is that open for tours? J. - Minnesota
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