Lindisfarne - England's Holy Island

molometer (71)in Photography Lovers • 2 years ago (edited)

Lindisfarne or Holy Island is just off the northeast coast of England and can be reached on foot at low tide on foot or by car.
The image below is what most people today associate with Lindisfarne but this is in fact Lindisfarne Castle which was built in 1550 A.D. and was a military barracks for over 300 years.

To find the ancient monastry we have to look elsewhere and dig deeper. Archaeologists are still trying to locate the original site of the monastry on the island and have found several promising candidates.

Lindisfarne Castle

It is of course a site of great historical importance and has morphed from a place of religious pilgrimage into a tourist destination for old hippies like me and new age thinkers.

It has beautiful scenery, ancient history, and religious significance which is the perfect place for a nerd like me to investigate.

To get to the island you have to keep an eye on the tide tables and be aware that if you do not pay attention you can get stuck on the island or worse.

On 14th February 2022 I posted a couple of photographs on Google Maps and left a review talking about the state of the signage relating to the tide tables which was basically unreadable? Not much use to visitors who might get stuck or washed away because they cannot read it.

Those 2 photos have had over 150,000 views. I've just added it to my @pinmapple page.

Lindisfarne Castle Causeway

Lindisfarne was settled by Irish (Romanised) monks in the 7th century and it became a very important centre for the reintroduction of Roman Christianity into England.

After the Romans left Britain their religion more or less left with them. These Irish monks had carried on the Roman ways in Ireland and were at odds with the British who had abandoned the Roman ideology. More on this below.

Lindisfarne today is an important nature reserve with wintering bird populations including wildfowl and wading birds. Seals and Puffins can also be seen at certain times of the year. The landscape is quite something to behold. You would never think you were in England? On the road out to the island it is almost like driving through the desert and then salt marshes?

Lindisfarne Nature Reserve

When the Monks arrived in England it caused quite a lot of confusion amongst the locals who had reverted in part to much older religious beliefs as well as christianity.
The monks produced illuminated manuscripts which are literally works of art like the one below.

Source

Lindisfarne was allegedly visited by the Venerable Bede who is often cited (and much disputed) as the primary source of history from these times. The manuscript image above is about Bede and you can read more him in the link
Source

The original monastery was destroyed and looted by Vikings in the 9th century for it's gold and other treasures. The Vikings also took the locals as slaves. The monastry was rebuilt in the 11th century.

The monastery was again destroyed by Henry VIII in the 16th century as part of the reformation of religion in England which led to the establishment of the Church of England with Henry VIII as head of the church. Up until this time England had been Roman Catholic.

Lindisfarne Castle on the Horizon

The island was abandoned for centuries and in the 19th century Lindisfarne was rediscovered probably by some early form of intrepid abandoned building explorers like we have on Hive. #urbex

Lindisfarne Castle Causeway Footpath

The search for the actual site of the original monastry continues and there has been a couple of sites that seem to fit the date but as far as I could tell there was no consensus on the placement of the original monastry.

The latest candidate for the original monastry is down by the shoreline. The theory goes that this would be the obvious place to erect a monastry for the seafaring irish monks? i.e. close to their point of arrival. Just a few hundred yards to the right from where this photo with the rainbow was taken.

Lindisfarne Monastry Original Site?

Lindisfarne is a fascinating place and was one of those places that I had wanted to visit for decades. I finally got to see it first hand and was not disappointed. It is a stunning place with an abundance of natural wildlife, scenery and history.

I hope you enjoyed this photographic tour of this amazing place. Thanks for reading.

This is my contribution for #SublimeSunday is inspired by @c0ff33a and #BeautifulSunday is initiated by @ace108.

#sublimesunday #beautifulsunday #photography #photocircle #history #pinmapple #travel #teamuk #story