Early The north-east of England was largely not settled by Roman civilians apart from the
Tyne valley and
Hadrian's Wall. The area had been little affected during the centuries of nominal Roman occupation. The countryside had been subject to raids from both
Scots and
Picts and was "not one to attract early Germanic settlement". The
Anglian King Ida (reigned from 547) started the sea-borne settlement of the coast, establishing an (meaning "royal settlement") at
Bamburgh across the bay from Lindisfarne. The conquest was not straightforward, however. The recounts how, in the 6th century,
Urien, prince of
Rheged, with a coalition of North Brittonic kingdoms, besieged
Angles led by
Theodric of Bernicia on the island for three days and nights, until internal power struggles led to the Britons' defeat.
Lindisfarne Abbey The Lindisfarne
Abbey was first established in 634 AD. The island served as the site of a
monastery for roughly 900 years. The site, most of which has fallen into a state of ruin, has since become a popular tourist destination and focus of pilgrimage journeys. The church of St Mary the Virgin is the only original building that has been more or less continually maintained and which remains standing within the original monastic compound. Remains from the pre-Norman/Anglo-Saxon era can be found in the chancel wall of this church. The monastery was described as an abbey by
Bede but when it was rebuilt after the
Norman Conquest it was described as a (relatively smaller)
priory.
Founding and early years beside the ruins of the medieval priory The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded around 634 by the Irish monk
Aidan, who had been sent from
Iona off the west coast of Scotland to
Northumbria at the request of
King Oswald. The abbey was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651 and it acted as a centre of the
Christianisation of Northumbria. The abbey and its church remained the only seat of a bishopric in Northumbria for nearly thirty years.
Finan (bishop 651–661) built a timber church "suitable for a
bishop's seat".
Bede, however, was critical of the fact that the church was not built of stone but only of hewn oak thatched with reeds. A later bishop, Eadbert, removed the thatch and covered both walls and roof in lead. An abbot, who could be the bishop, was elected by the brethren and led the community. Bede comments on this: Following the death of bishop
Finan in 661, Colman became
Bishop of Lindisfarne. There were significant liturgical and theological differences with the fledgling Roman party based at
Canterbury. According to
Frank Stenton: "There is no trace of any intercourse between these bishops [the Mercians] and the see of Canterbury". The
Synod of Whitby in 663 changed this, as allegiance switched southwards to Canterbury and then to Rome. Colman departed his see for Iona, and for the next few years Lindisfarne had no bishop. Under a new line of bishops aligned with Canterbury Lindisfarne became the base for Christian evangelism in
Northern England, and also sent a successful mission to
Mercia. Monks from the Irish community of
Iona settled on the island.
Cuthbert as bishop Northumbria's
patron saint,
Cuthbert, was a monk and later
abbot of the monastery. St Cuthbert has been described as “possibly the most venerated saint in England”. Cuthbert's miracles and life are recorded by Bede. Cuthbert was Bishop of Lindisfarne from 684 until 686, shortly before his death. An anonymous "Life of Cuthbert" written at Lindisfarne is the oldest extant piece of English historical writing. From its reference to "Aldfrith, who now reigns peacefully", the "Life of Cuthbert" is considered to date from between 685 and 704. While bishop and abbot, Cuthbert took it upon himself to align his bishopric with the see of Canterbury, and therefore with Rome, while leaving its Celtic leanings and traditions behind. After his death in 687 Cuthbert was initially buried in Lindisfarne. Due to the claim that Cuthbert's body was untouched by 'corruption', and also due to there being several miracles associated with those who had come to visit Cuthbert's shrine, the island became a major destination for pilgrimages for the next few hundred years. During one of the many evacuations of Lindisfarne by the monks due to the increasing frequency of Viking raids upon the island at the time, in 793 Cuthbert's body was carried away by the monks, first to where they temporarily re-settled in the nearby village of
Chester-le-Street, then to
Durham Cathedral .
Eadberht of Lindisfarne, the next bishop (and later saint), was buried in the place from which Cuthbert's body had been
exhumed earlier in the same year (793).
8th and 9th centuries In 735, the northern ecclesiastical province of England was established, with the archbishopric at
York. There were only three bishops under York:
Hexham, Lindisfarne and
Whithorn, whereas Canterbury had the 12 envisioned by
St Augustine. At that time the
Diocese of York roughly encompassed the counties of
Yorkshire and
Lancashire. Hexham covered
County Durham and the southern part of modern
Northumberland up to the
River Coquet, and eastwards into the
Pennines. Whithorn covered most of
Dumfries and Galloway region west of
Dumfries itself. The remainder,
Cumbria, northern Northumbria,
Lothian and much of the
Kingdom of Strathclyde formed the diocese of Lindisfarne. In 737,
Ceolwulf of Northumbria abdicated as
King of Northumbria and entered the abbey at Lindisfarne. He died in 764 and was buried alongside Cuthbert. In 830, his body was moved to
Norham-upon-Tweed, and later his head was
translated to Durham Cathedral.
Lindisfarne Gospels In the early 8th century the illuminated manuscript known as the
Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated
Latin copy of the
Gospels of
Matthew,
Mark,
Luke and
John, was made, probably at Lindisfarne. The artist was possibly
Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne. It is also speculated that a team of illuminators and calligraphers (monks of Lindisfarne Abbey) worked on the text, but if so, their identities are unknown. In the second half of the 10th century, a monk named Aldred added an
Old English gloss to the Latin text, producing the earliest surviving Old English/Northumbrian copies of the Gospels. Aldred attributed the original to Eadfrith (bishop 698–721). The Gospels were written with a good hand, but it is the illustrations, done in an
insular style containing a fusion of Celtic, Germanic and Roman elements, that are considered to be of the most value. According to Aldred, Eadfrith's successor Æthelwald was responsible for pressing and binding the book, before it was covered with a fine metal case made by a
hermit known as Billfrith. The Lindisfarne Gospels reside in the
British Library in London, a location which has caused controversy amongst some Northumbrians. In 1971, professor Suzanne Kaufman of
Rockford, Illinois presented a facsimile copy of the Gospels to the clergy of the island.
Viking raid on the monastery (793) , 1798. The priory's rainbow arch, which survives, is shown truncated for artistic effect. In 793, a
Viking raid on Lindisfarne caused consternation throughout the Christian west, and is often taken as the beginning of the
Viking Age. There had been other Viking raids, but according to
English Heritage this one was particularly significant, because "it attacked the sacred heart of the Northumbrian kingdom, desecrating 'the very place where the Christian religion began in our nation'". The D and E versions of the West Saxon
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle record: ("In this year fierce, foreboding
omens came over the land of the Northumbrians, and the wretched people shook; there were excessive whirlwinds, lightning, and fiery
dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and a little after those, that same year on 6th ides of January, the ravaging of wretched heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindisfarne.") The generally accepted date for the Viking raid on Lindisfarne is 8 June;
Michael Swanton writes: ", presumably [is] an error for (8 June) which is the date given by the
Annals of Lindisfarne (p. 505), when better sailing weather would favour coastal raids."
Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar in
Charlemagne's court at the time, wrote: "Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race ... The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets." During the attack many of the monks were killed, or captured and enslaved. Biographer
Peter Ackroyd suggests: "The monasteries of Lindisfarne and Jarrow were not attacked at random; they were chosen as examples of revenge. The onslaught of the Christian Charlemagne on the ‘pagans’ of the north had led to the extirpation of their shrines and sanctuaries. The great king had cut down
Jôrmunr, the holy tree of the Norse people. What better form of retaliation than to lay waste the foundations devoted to the Christian God? The Christian missionaries to Norway had in fact set out from Lindisfarne." However, the raid on Lindisfarne took place decades after Charlemagne’s campaigns against the Saxons. Neither the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle nor any surviving Norse document ascribes a motivation to the raid on the monastery. As the English population became more settled, they seemed to have abandoned seafaring. Many monasteries were established on islands, peninsulas, river mouths and cliffs, as isolated communities were less susceptible to interference and the politics of the heartland. These preliminary raids, despite their brutal nature, were not followed up. The main body of the raiders passed north around
Scotland. The 9th-century invasions came not from
Norway, but from the
Danes from around the entrance to the Baltic. The first Danish raids into England were in the
Isle of Sheppey,
Kent during 835 and from there their influence spread north. During this period religious art continued to flourish on Lindisfarne, and the of Durham began in the abbey. By 866, the Danes were in York, and in 873 the Danish army was moving into Northumberland. With the collapse of the Northumbrian kingdom, the monks of Lindisfarne fled the island in 875 taking with them St Cuthbert's bones (which are now buried at Durham Cathedral), who during his life had been prior and bishop of Lindisfarne; his body was buried on the island in the year 698. Prior to the 9th century, Lindisfarne Abbey had, in common with other such establishments, held large tracts of land which were managed directly or leased to farmers with a
life interest only. Following the Danish occupation, land was increasingly owned by individuals, and could be bought, sold and inherited. Following the
Battle of Corbridge in 914
Ragnald seized the land giving some to his followers
Scula and
Onlafbal.
Prior to dissolution of the monasteries Once the region had been restored to political and military stability under the government of
William the Conqueror, the prospects for the rebuilding of the island's monastery began to improve. The first Norman
Bishop of Durham,
William of St Calais endowed his new
Benedictine monastery at Durham with land and property in Northumberland, including Holy Island and much of the surrounding mainland.
Durham Priory then re-established a monastery on the island in 1093. The monastery was re-established as a smaller "priory" which was to be administered as a sub-monastery of the Durham priory. Smaller monasteries are often referred to as
priories while larger monasteries are more commonly referred to as abbeys. Under Norman rule, by 1150 the island's parish church had also been fully rebuilt over part of the site of the pre-Norman abbey. The newly constructed chapel included a cenotaph (an empty tomb) marking the spot where Cuthbert's body was believed to have been buried. Although his body by then had been relocated in Durham Cathedral, the place of his former primary shrine on Lindisfarne was still considered by many to be sacred ground and continued to draw pilgrims. The pre-Norman island bishopric of Lindisfarne was not restored under Norman rule, perhaps because the newer and more centrally located bishopric of Durham was then better able to meet the church's administrative needs in the area. As such, the island's restored but slightly smaller Benedictine monastery (sized as a priory under Norman rule) was then able to continue in relative peace under the new Norman monarchy and its successor
royal houses for the next four centuries until its final
dissolution in 1536 as a result of
Henry VIII's dissolution of the English church's ties to Rome, and his subsequent closing of the monasteries.
After dissolution of the priory Even with the closure of the island's priory in 1536, the tradition of making religious pilgrimages to the island never ceased. In the 20th century ( 1980~1990), religious author and cleric
David Adam reported that he had ministered to thousands of pilgrims and other visitors as rector of Holy Island. In the 21st century the tradition of making pilgrimage to Lindisfarne continues to be observed annually, as can be attested to by the
Northern Cross Pilgrimage amongst others. The priory ruins which make for a popular tourist and pilgrimage destination, were built just after the Norman conquest, and date back to nearly 1,000 years ago. The chancel wall of the church dates back even further into Anglo-Saxon times.
Architecture and archaeology In 1838 Henry George Charles Clarke wrote a scholarly description of the priory. Clarke surmised that this Norman priory was unique in that the centre aisle had a vault of stone. Of the six arches, Clarke stated "as if the architect had not previously calculated the space to be occupied by his arcade. The effect here has been to produce a
horseshoe arch instead of a
semicircular arch, from its being of the same height, but lesser span, than the others. This arch is very rare, even in Norman buildings". The Lindisfarne Priory (ruin) is a
grade I listed building, List Entry Number 1042304. Other parts of the priory are a
scheduled monument, List Entry Number 1011650. The latter are described as "the site of the pre-Conquest monastery of Lindisfarne and the Benedictine cell of Durham Cathedral that succeeded it in the 11th century". Archaeologists led by
DigVentures and the
University of Durham have been conducting community excavations since 2016 outside the priory. A total of nine consecutive field seasons (including those planned for 2024) have unearthed numerous insights for the site. Artefacts of note recovered included a rare board game piece, copper-alloy rings and Anglo-Saxon coins from both Northumbria and Wessex. The discovery of a cemetery led to finding commemorative markers "unique to the 8th and 9th centuries". The group also found evidence of an early medieval building, "which seems to have been constructed on top of an even earlier industrial oven" which was used to make copper or glass.
Historical island economy Middle Ages economy Monastic records from the 14th to the 16th century provide evidence of an already well-established fishing economy on the island. Both
line fishing and
net fishing were practised, inshore in shallow waters and in the deep water offshore, using a variety of vessels: contemporary accounts differentiate between small '
cobles' and larger 'boats', as well as singling out certain specialised vessels (such as a '
herynger', sold for £2 in 1404). As well as supplying food for the monastic community, the island's fisheries (together with those of nearby Farne) provided the mother house at Durham with fish, on a regular (sometimes weekly) basis. Fish caught included
cod,
haddock,
herring,
salmon,
porpoise and
mullet, among others.
Shellfish of various types were also fished for, with
lobster nets and
oyster dredges being mentioned in the accounts. Fish surplus to the needs of the monastery was traded, but subject to a
tithe. There is also evidence that the monks operated a
lime kiln on the island. In 1462, during the
Wars of the Roses,
Margaret of Anjou made an abortive attempt to seize the Northumbrian castles. Following a storm at sea 400 troops had to seek shelter on Holy Island, where they surrendered to the
Yorkists.
Post priory dissolution economy After King
Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, Lindisfarne Priory was made to close its doors for the last time. The buildings of the old priory were then repurposed for use as a naval storehouse. As such, one of the economic focal points of the island became the military post which would be staffed by military personnel from time to time, instead of the former activities of the defunct monastery. Over the coming centuries, most of the priory complex buildings gradually fell into ruin. In 1613 ownership of the island (and other land in the area formerly pertaining to Durham Priory) was transferred to
the Crown. In the 1860s a
Dundee firm built
lime kilns on Lindisfarne, and
lime was burnt on the island until at least the end of the 19th century. The kilns are among the most complex in Northumberland. Horses carried
limestone, along the
Holy Island Waggonway, from a quarry on the north side of the island to the lime kilns, where it was burned with coal transported from Dundee on the east coast of Scotland. There are still traces of the jetties by which the coal was imported and the lime exported close by at the foot of the crags. The remains of the
waggonway between the quarries and the kilns makes for an easy walk. At the peak of the limestone quarrying and processing operations on the island, over 100 men were employed by these operations.
Crinoid columnals, a certain type of intricate fossil with a hole in the middle which is sometimes found in limestone, were separated from the quarried stone and then milled smooth into beads. The remaining quarried limestone material would then be processed into lime. These more valuable beads would then be threaded onto necklaces and rosaries and exported from the island. The beads became known as
St Cuthbert's beads. The large-scale quarrying in the 19th century had a devastating effect on the limestone caves, but eight sea caves remain at Coves Haven. Workings on the lime kilns stopped by the start of the 20th century. The lime kilns on Lindisfarne are among the few being actively preserved in Northumberland. Holy Island Golf Club was founded in 1907 but closed in the 1960s.
21st-century economy Lindisfarne was mainly a fishing community for many years, with farming and the production of lime also of some importance. Lindisfarne is well known for
mead. When monks inhabited the island, it was thought that if the soul was in God's keeping, the body must be fortified with Lindisfarne mead.
Lindisfarne Mead is produced at St Aidan's Winery, and sold widely. The mead recipe remains a secret of the family which produces it. Lindisfarne Abbey and St Marys.JPG|Lindisfarne Abbey and St Mary's Lindisfarne Lobster Pots.JPG|Lindisfarne lobster pots Lindisfarne Castle from Harbour.JPG|Lindisfarne Castle from the harbour Holy Island Plays Its Part- Everyday Life on Lindisfarne, 1942 D6771 (cropped).jpg|A Lindisfarne fisherman in 1942 Lindisfarne Upturned Boats in Harbour.JPG|Upturned boats in the harbour of Lindisfarne used as sheds ==Community and demographics==