Lindisfarne

                                                                    Lindisfarne Priory

For our final outing in the North East we decided to see Lindisfarne or Holy Island. I knew from a friend that the island is connected to the mainland by a causeway which floods twice a day. Visitors are exhorted to check the tide times.  I didn't have any sense of what the causeway looked liked or how long it was. 

I now know that the causeway is a tarmaced road wide enough for two vehicles going in opposite directions. It is 3 miles long and the vast majority of visitors arrive by car. At high tide the road lies under 1.5 - 4 metres of water.

We parked in the large car park and walked towards Lindisfarne Priory. Holy Island has a recorded history which goes back the 6th century AD; it was an important centre of Celtic Christianity, especially St Cuthbert.   After the Viking invasions and the Norman Conquest a Priory was was re-established. A small castle was built on the island in 1550.

Below are two views of the Priory ruins. The monastery continued until its suppression in 1536 under Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasterie after which the buildings surrounding the church were used as a naval storehouse, and presumably began a long period of decline

 We concluded our visit of the Priory by admiring this modern statue of St Cuthbert by Fenwick Lawson. 

We could see Lindisfarne's other major sight as we were exploring the Monastery - the Castle, perched upon a rocky hill on the highest point of the island. It was constructed in 1550 and stones from the priory were used as building material.

We followed a road and then a grassy path towards the Castle, now looked after by the National Trust. When you get there it is a steep climb to the top.

In 1901, the Castle became the property of Edward Hudson, a publishing magnate and the owner of Country Life magazine.  It is said that Hudson and the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens came across the building while touring Northumberland and climbed over the wall to explore inside. 

Lutyens created a remarkably cosy and characterful building, and as you tour round it now you are taken by the small homely rooms, many of which have the feeling of having just been vacated. No doubt this was the work of the National Trust.

From the rear windows you can see the small walled garden which had originally been the garrison's vegetable plot. It was redesigned by Lutyens' long-time friend and collaborator, Gertrude Jekyll, between 1906 and 1912. It is some distance away from the castle itself. Between 2002 and 2006 it was restored to Jekyll's original planting plan by the National Trust.

On the opposite of the building there is a terrace which offers fine views back towards the main body of the island.

This view is particularly interesting, with the two columns at the back of the sands which remain important for navigational purposes. The thick black line in the foreground is ..... yes, hundreds of seals on a spit of land!

A wonderful experience!