Lindisfarne Priory
Holy Island, Northumberland
Follow in the footsteps of the ancient monks who built their priory here nearly 1,400 years ago, and explore the wild coastal beauty of Holy Island.
Dating from between 1180 and 1300, the parish church is the oldest building on the island (older than the ruined Norman priory), though a round headed arch in the chancel, and a strange high level doorway, are certainly Saxon in style.
The long nave could indicate that this is one of the churches of the original monastery, or it could have been built by the Christianised Vikings, for whom this was an important place.
Inside, the chancel with its lancet windows is of the 13th century; the priest's door and a low side window in its south wall remain intact inside a new vestry. Within the church, the round arches of the north arcade are from the late 12th century, and the south arcade, together with the original windows of its aisle (now blocked), is from around1300.
The west end is capped by a typical Northumberland bellcote, perhaps of the same 1754 date as one of the bells, and the little 19th century north vestry once served as a mortuary for drowned sailors.
A modern sculpture of a party of monks carrying St Cuthbert's coffin is in the south aisle; after Viking raiders first struck in 793, they left Lindisfarne and eventually buried his body at Durham in around 920.
