Lindisfarne, the tidal Holy Island

Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a small tidal island off the coast of Northumberland, linked to the mainland by a road that disappears under the sea twice a day. Here, in the 7th century, one of the most important centres of Anglo-Saxon Christianity was born, where the famous Lindisfarne Gospels were created, and here in 793 the Viking raid marked the beginning of an era. Today the island, with its priory ruins, a castle on a crag, dunes and beaches, is one of the most atmospheric places in the north of England.

History

In 635 King Oswald of Northumbria called the Irish monk Aidan from the Scottish island of Iona, and he founded a monastery on Lindisfarne to spread Christianity in the kingdom. The most famous of his successors was St Cuthbert, monk, bishop and hermit on the nearby Farne Islands. Around 715 a monk named Eadfrith created the Lindisfarne Gospels in his honour, one of the supreme masterpieces of medieval European art, with pages decorated with interlace, animals and brilliant colours; they are now kept at the British Library in London.

On 8 June 793 the Vikings attacked the monastery, killing and plundering: it is considered the start of the Viking Age in Europe. The monks held on for decades, then left the island carrying the body of St Cuthbert, which finally came to rest at Durham. In the 12th century the Benedictines built a new priory here, closed with Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.

What to see

The priory

The ruins of Lindisfarne Priory, managed by English Heritage, show the Norman church in red sandstone, with the famous rainbow arch, a rib of the vault left hanging in mid-air. A small museum tells the story of monastic life, the art of the Gospels and the Viking raid, with a carved stone that seems to depict the Norse warriors.

The castle and the garden

Lindisfarne Castle, built in the 16th century as a small fort, stands on a volcanic crag at the end of the island. In 1901 the celebrated architect Edwin Lutyens transformed it into a holiday home for the publisher Edward Hudson. Today it belongs to the National Trust, and nearby is the small walled garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Next to it are old lime kilns.

The village and nature

The small village has St Mary's Church, cafés, a pub and the winery where the island's mead is made. The rest of Lindisfarne is a nature reserve of dunes, salt marshes and beaches, where thousands of waterbirds spend the winter and where you can often hear the grey seals "singing" as they lie on the sandbanks.

The tides

The causeway linking the island can only be used at low tide: safe crossing times change every day and are posted on signs and on Northumberland County Council's website. Every year some drivers get stranded by the water. Pilgrims can walk across the sands along the Pilgrims' Way, marked by wooden poles, only at low tide and with care.

Getting there

• By train: the nearest station is Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the London-Edinburgh line, about 20 minutes away by car; on some days there is a bus timed with the tides.
• By car: from the A1, turning off at Beal; pay car parks at the entrance to the village.
• By air: Newcastle Airport is about an hour and a quarter away.

Nearby

• Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands.
• Berwick-upon-Tweed, with its Elizabethan walls, a few kilometres from the Scottish border.
• The Alnwick Garden and Alnwick Castle.

Tips

• How long: half a day, keeping to the tide times.
• When to go: April to October; early morning or late afternoon the island is quieter.
• A tip: check the tide times before you set off and plan your return carefully.

Lindisfarne on the map

Nearby