I've heard about Lisdisfarne on Globetrekker and immediately thought it was a place that I'd like to visit. A few days ago Jemma was offering some cards, I saw these two and asked her if we could trade. It was a fast and successful trade.
The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England. It is also known just as Holy Island. It constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century. It was an important centre of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan of Lindisfarne, Cuthbert, Eadfrith of Lindisfarne and Eadberht of Lindisfarne. - in: wikipedia
Photograph and design: © Leslie Garland
The ruins of Lindisfarne's Norman priory stand on or near the site of the Anglo-Saxon monastery founded by St Aidan in A.D 635, on land granted by Oswald, King and Saint of Northumbria. Aidan is believed to have chosen the island site because of its isolation and proximity to the Northumbrian capital at Bamburgh.
Aidan the first Bishop of Lindisfarne, an Irish-Celtic monk from the Scotish isle of Iona, travelled widely throughout Northumbria and with the help of King Oswald as interpreter, began the conversion of the pagan Northumbrians to Chrisatianity.
St Aidan's death in 651 A.D, is said to have been related in a vision to a young shepherd boy called Cuthbert who lived in the hills somewhere near the River Tweed.
The vision convinced Cuthbert that he should take up the life of a monk and at the age of sixteen, he entered the Northumbrian monastery of Melrose in Tweeddale (now in the southern borders of Scotland).
In 654 Cuthbert came to Lindisfarne, where his reputed gift of healing and legendary ability to work miracles, achieved far reaching fame for the island. Cuthbert was elected Bishop of Hexham in 684 A.D but exchanged the see for Lindisfarne, to become the fifth successor to Bishop Aidan.
When Cuthbert died in 687 A.D, he was burried in accordance with his wishes on the island of Lindisfarne, but eleven years after his death, his body was found to be in an incorrupt state by the astonished monks of the island. The monks were now convinced that Cuthbert was a saint and pilgrims continued to flock to Lindisfarne in numbers as great as during Cuthbert's lifetime.
In 793 A.D Lindisfarne was to witness the first Viking raid on the coast of Britain.
Viking raids on Lindisfarne's wealthy coastal monastery continued throughout the following century and in 875 A.D the monks of Lindisfarne fled their Holy Island with the body of Cuthbert, remembering the dying wishes of their saint.
For many years the monks wandered the north of England, with the coffin of St Cuthbert, and after settling for just over a hundred years in the old Roman fort at Chester-le-Street they moved on to Durham in 995 A.D where St Cuthbert's body lies to this day in the cathedral that was built for his shrine.
Northumbrian Postcards Photographed and Published by Michael Goonan
Today the only feature of Holy island that suggests any involvement with the violent border history of Northumberland is Lindisfarne Catle. First built in 1550, it sits romantically on the highest point of the island, a whin stone hill called Beblowe and rises from the rock in such a beautiful way that the castle almost seems to be a part of the rock itself . A small but superbly rugged looking building, it has been a National Trust property since 1944.
Lindisfarne Castle has never witnessed any major battle or Border siege although it was occupied by some Northumbrian Jacobites at the time of the 1715 Rising. Lindisfarne Castle was converted into a private residence by the well known British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1903. Inside, the building has great character where architect has made incredible use of the confined space. - in: http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/Lindisfarne.html
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