When we first came to Durham there was an exhibit here for a short time that we had an opportunity to see.  The Lindisfarne Gospels were visiting Durham and they are only put on display every five years.  We wrote a few posts about our visit to see them and you can read it here:

https://thehaynesblog.com/2013/10/01/one-amazing-book/

https://thehaynesblog.com/2013/09/11/lindisfarne-gospels/

We have wanted to visit Holy Island for some time and Rob took off this Friday to go with us.  The first thing we had to do in order to visit Holy Island was to consult the tide tables.  The causeway to Holy Island is covered by water during high tide so you must plan trips on and off the island at low tide.

It was a cool and foggy day but that just added a bit to the atmosphere of visiting this place shrouded in church history, stories of miracles and priory ruins.

It was on this island in that the monks of Lindisfarne wrote the Lindisfarne Gospels.

St. Cuthbert lived here and often went out to this another, smaller, island to wall himself in a small dwelling where he could pray and listen to God.

This island you see above is St. Cuthbert’s Island.  We walked these same shores looking out towards St. Cuthbert’s Island and gathered sea glass.

You can read more about St. Cuthbert here: http://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/st-cuthbert

St. Cuthbert’s final resting place is in Durham Cathedral.  So you can see that visiting this nearby island of Holy Island – Lindisfarne was helpful in “completing the picture” for us.

We climbed an observation tower and had a great birds eye view of Holy Island as well as seals playing near a buoy.

Here is more about the English Heritage site Lindisfarne Priory :https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/lindisfarne-priory/

We saw so much yesterday but you will have to wait till tomorrow to hear some more.

Cheers,

Beth