Lindisfarne

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Lindisfarne Castle
Lindisfarne Castle

Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island (variant spelling, Lindesfarne), is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England, which is connected to the mainland of Northumberland by a causeway and is cut off twice a day by tides — something well described by Sir Walter Scott:

For with the flow and ebb, its style
Varies from continent to isle;
Dry shood o'er sands, twice every day,
The pilgrims to the shrine find way;
Twice every day the waves efface
Of staves and sandelled feet the trace.

According to the 2001 census it had a usual population of 162.

[edit] Nature reserve

Large parts of the island, and all of the adjacent inter-tidal area, are protected as Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations. Grey seals are frequent visitors to the rocky bays at high tide.

[edit] History

The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish born Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria around AD 635. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia. Monks from the community of Iona settled on the island.

In 793 a Viking raid on Lindisfarne caused much consternation throughout the Christian west, and is now often taken as the beginning of the age of Viking raids. A very famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reads:

"In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th of the same year, the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindesfarne."

Eventually the monks fled the island (taking with them the body of St Cuthbert, which is now buried at the Cathedral in Durham). The priory was re-established in Norman times as a Benedictine house and continued until its dissolution in 1536 under Henry VIII. It is now a ruin in the care of English Heritage, who also run a museum/visitor centre nearby. The neighbouring parish church (see below) is still in use.

Lindisfarne also has the small Lindisfarne Castle, based on a Tudor fort and open to visitors.

Turner, Thomas Girtin and Charles Rennie Mackintosh all painted on Holy Island.

Lindisfarne seen from the mainland
Lindisfarne seen from the mainland

[edit] External links