Northumbrian Gunner: Holy Island

Tuesday, 7 February 2023

Holy Island

Holy Island Castle

The island of Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne lies off the coast of Northumberland, 10 miles south of Berwick upon Tweed.

Holy Island Northumbrian Coast

Holy Island

IJ VM Holy Island

The island can be reached by a road causeway at low tide.

Road Causeway to Holy Island

View from Road Causeway to Holy Island at low tide

Lindisfarne became the centre of Christianity in the north when a monastery was founded in 634 by an Irish monk Aidan. He has been sent from Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides,Scotland, at the request of the King of Northumbria, King Oswald.

Lindisfarne Northumbria

Holy Island St Aidan

Lindisfarne Monastery

One of the monks who settled was Cuthbert who would be later canonised and become the patron saint of Northumbria. When he retired in 676, he became an hermit on a small island nearby to the Lindisfarne Monastery.

Holy Island - St Cuthbert's Island

Holy Island - St Cuthbert's Island

Cuthbert died in 687. He was first buried in Lindisfarne, later his body was moved by monks to Durham Cathedral.

A set of manuscripts known as the the Lindisfarne Gospels were produced by a monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698,in honour of St. Cuthbert.

Lindisfarne Gospels

A priory was established during the 12th century, and became a major destination for pilgrims.

Lindisfarne Priory

Following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII between 1536 and 1541 the priory was left to go to ruin.

Holy Island Lindisfarne Priory Manor House Hotel

Holy Island Lindisfarne Priory

In 1542 Henry VIII ordered the fortification of Holy Island against Scottish invasion. By 1547 a fort was established on a high rock and equipped with guns.

The castle was strategically vital during the Scottish Wars of the mid-1500s and later saw action in the English Civil Wars 1642 to 1651. The fortifications would be strength during a series of wars with the Dutch which ranged from 1652 to 1674.

The castle was purchased by Edward Hudson, the founder of Country Life magazine in 1901 who hired the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to help with a renovation of the castle.