Lindisfarne Priory

This morning we visited the island of Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island. It is a tidal island, reached by a causeway at low tide, something well described by Sir Walter Scott:

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

The photo shows the remains of the priory. 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 at the request of King Oswald around AD 635. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England.

While on the island, we also visited the castle. The island is located in what was once the very volatile border area between England and Scotland. Not only did the English and Scots fight, but the area was frequently attacked by Vikings. The castle was built in 1550, around the time that Lindisfarne Priory went out of use, and stones from the priory were used as building material. It is very small by the usual standards, and was more of a fort and sits on the highest point of the island. In 1901, it became the property of Edward Hudson, a publishing magnate and the owner of Country Life magazine. He had it refurbished in the Arts and Crafts style by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

We still had more to see, but the tide was coming up, and we didnt want to be there for the whole of high tide, so we left and in the afternoon visited
Bamburgh castle