Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off Northumberland’s north-east coast. It sits three kilometres from the mainland and measures four and a half by two and a half kilometres. At low tide the causeway and pilgrims’ path appear across the sands, while at high tide the island is cut off. The surrounding nature reserve covers more than three thousand hectares of dunes and intertidal land. Lindisfarne Castle stands at the island’s tip, and the ruined priory marks the heart of the early monastery. Several lighthouses guide vessels through the shifting channels. The island was the cradle of Northumbrian Christianity. In 634 Irish monk Aidan founded the monastery at the request of King Oswald. For nearly ninety years it served as the only bishop’s seat in Northumbria. The monks produced the Lindisfarne Gospels, illuminated manuscripts now recognised across the world. Viking raiders sacked the monastery in 793, an event recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. After the Norman Conquest the site became a priory, and St Mary the Virgin church remains from the original compound. Visitors walk the marked pilgrims’ path to the village and castle. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin still holds remains of the 7th-century chancel wall. The priory ruins show parts of the pre-Norman stonework and later additions. Lime kilns dot the shore where islanders once burned stone to make mortar. At migration seasons thousands of birds gather on the sands and dunes. The island’s name echoes its past: Lindisfarne for the monks’ territory, Holy Island for Saints Aidan and Cuthbert.