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LINDISFARNE PRIORY

Holy Island,
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland
TD15 2RX
t: 01289 389200
e: lindisfarne.priory@english-heritage.org.uk
w: www.english-heritage.org.uk/lindisfarnepriory

Few visitors will forget the arresting sight of these captivating ruins standing in vulnerable isolation. Cross the dramatic causeway (only possible at low tide) and lead your group in the footsteps of pilgrims who have been visiting the remote Holy Island for over 13 centuries. It’s the site where St Aidan and St Cuthbert founded the great power-house of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria and where the famous Lindisfarne Gospels were created. Now the ruins of the priory, which monks so diligently established after cruel Viking devastation, remain to welcome groups today.


  • Wander around the extensive, richly decorated ruins. As you enter through the magnificently carved west doorway you will see Lindisfarne’s most dramatic feature, the ‘Rainbow Arch’.
     
  • Visit the museum to discover the fascinating story of the monks who lived on Holy Island until the monastery was suppressed in 1537.
     
  • The beautiful illuminated-manuscript, the Lindisfarne Gospels, was produced here in the early 700s. See the new ‘Inscribed in Stone’ display, connecting them with 14 extraordinary carved and painted 8th-century ‘naming stones’ found here - unique links to the people of the vanished Saxon monastery.

 

TOP TIP

Do check the tide-tables when planning a visit to Holy Island: otherwise your group may have to stay much longer than expected!