Place to go: Lindisfarne Priory Title: Lindisfarne Priory Location: Holy Island, Berwick on Tweed Cost: £ 3.00 Contact: Tel: 01289 389200 County: Northumberland Map Link: Show Map Access Details: The Priory has some ramps, but mainly grassy areas make easy access Web Link: Show Website Facilities: Museum, gift shop, teahouses and cafés on the island. Description: Holy Island and Lindisfarne Priory. Review: Holy Island is still a site of great religious importance today, the site of the Priory only adds to this, given the Island's religious importance. Holy Island is situated in the North Sea, at the end of a mile long causeway, which floods at high tide, cutting the island off from the mainland. You should take careful note of the tidal time charts before driving across to the island. Lindisfarne Castle and Lindisfarne Priory are both situated at the southern end of the three-mile long island. King Oswald of Northumbria allowed Celtic monks to settle on Lindisfarne in 634, beginning the sites religious heritage. Lindisfarne’s Benedictine Monastery is probably most well known for its association with St. Cuthbert, and the ‘Lindisfarne Gospels’, sadly now locked away in the British Museum in London. The Museum gives some indication of the wealth of the Priory, after is founding in the 11th Century, and its close link with its founding house, Durham; home to St. Cuthbert’s tomb. The museum is not particularly large, but is gives a wealth of detail, and sells the excellent English Heritage guidebook. The English Heritage site is not on the scale of the more significant monastic sites in the North East, but has some of the same characteristics, as well as some beautiful views of the Farne Islands. The Church is the usual East-West alignment with the cloister, and Chapter House on the south side, but due to the restrictive nature of the island, additional buildings are all situated on this south side, making the whole site a compact oblong shape with the church at the top. A further facet is that the site does have many defensive features, one should note the arrow slits on the first storey of the church. Next to the ruins is the 13th Century St. Mary’s parish church, and a short walk away is Lindisfarne Castle, a 20th Century copy of a 16th Century Castle, both are worth a visit. Related Items: Bede's World This is three museums in one – St Paul’s Church,...   The Year 1000 What life was like at the turn of the First... Keystage 3   Updated: 29 August 2005