Christian Heritage

Lord this bare Island, may it be a place of peace:
Here be the peace of men who do thy will:
Here be the peace of brother serving man:
Here be the peace of holy monks obeying:
Here be the peace of praise by dark and day:
Be this Island Thy Holy Island:
I, Lord, Thy servant Aidan, make this prayer:
Be it Thy care. Amen."

attributed to St Aidan

The ancient region of Northumbria is blessed with a wealth of Christian cultural heritage, beginning in AD635, when St Aidan carried the Christian message to Northumbria from Iona.
He settled on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where he founded a monastery. The story of the Christian mission that followed was described by the first English historian, the Venerable Bede, in his famous Ecclesiastical History. More can be discovered about the great scholar, his life and times, by visiting Bede's World in Jarrow.
Lindisfarne is also remembered for St Cuthbert, the shepherd boy who reluctantly became a bishop. Many years later, Viking raids prompted the monks of Lindisfarne to flee, carrying with them the treasured relics of this popular saint, eventually laying his bones to rest in Durham in 995.

Durham Cathedral is a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, now a World Heritage Site. The shrines of the Venerable Bede and St Cuthbert continue to attract pilgrims to this day.

Bill Bryson's perfect city

"I got off at Durham...and fell in love with it instantly in a serious way. Why, it’s wonderful - a perfect little city - and I kept thinking: Why did no-one tell me about this?’ I knew, of course, that it had a fine Norman cathedral, but I had no idea it was so splendid......... So let me say it now: if you have never been to Durham, go at once. Take my car. It’s wonderful"

Bill Bryson, Notes From A Small Island

Important later chapters in Northumbria's Christian story include the impact of early Methodism in the North Pennines, which can be traced through tiny chapels still in use today. The Victorian parish church of All Saints in Monkwearmouth in Sunderland was also, in 1907, the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement in Britain.

Christian history has given Northumbria a richness of churches and holy places.

High points worth a visit include:

Durham Cathedral - normally open from 7.15am to 8.00pm both winter and summer. Tour groups should be pre-booked. Visitors can walk around the Cathedral, except when services are taking place, and see the Treasury, an audio visual exhibition, the Monk's Dormitory, the tower, bookshop and restaurant.
Lindisfarne Priory, Holy Island
Bede's World, Jarrow
St Nicholas' Cathedral, Newcastle
Hexham Abbey and its Saxon chalice
St John's, Escomb, from the 7th century
St Peter’s in Monkwearmouth, also 7th century
the ruined priories of Guisborough and Finchale
the beautiful ruins of Egglestone Abbey
the Cathedral churches of St Nicholas and St Mary in Newcastle
the Norman chapel at Durham Castle
the Arts and Crafts style church of St Andrews, Roker, in Sunderland.