On Monday 3 April 2017 there will be a talk by Howard Culley entitled “From St Aidan to the Reformation: the story of Lindisfarne Priory”, given for Bowsden History Group. It will take place in Bowsden Village Hall at 7.30pm. Free to Group members, visitors £2 (including light refreshments).
The talk will trace the history of Lindisfarne Priory from its foundation as a simple Celtic monastery in the seventh century through its time as the centre of Christianity in Northern England, producing the Lindisfarne Gospels and other beautifully illustrated works, to its sacking by the Vikings and ultimate abandonment in the ninth century.
It was re-founded in the eleventh century as a daughter house of Durham Abbey and survived plague, pillaging by the Scots and decline before its last few monks were evicted during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII.
Its stone was taken for Lindisfarne Castle and local houses and its lead roof was removed leaving the ruin we see today.
