It was a beautiful, sunny morning when we headed less than an hour north to Holy Island also known as Lindisfarne. Since it’s a tidal island, we had to check the time of the tides to know when it was safe to cross the causeway. The tide went out at about 10:10 so we got there around 10:45.
Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD and was the center of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan and Cuthbert. The Priory was founded around 634 by Irish monk Saint Aidan. Saint Cuthbert was later abbot of the monastery and was buried at the Priory.
Lindisfarne was where, in 793, the Vikings first invaded England. During the attack, many of the monks were killed or captured. In later Viking raids, the remaining monks took the bones of St. Cuthbert to Durham Cathedral. We saw that burial site yesterday.
Here are some photos of the Priory ruins.
We didn’t make it to the castle as it’s a 2-mile round trip walk from the car park. And then we’d have to climb who knows how many stairs to get to the castle.
Next to the Priory ruins is St. Mary’s Church and cemetery. I love to look at the stones in old cemeteries. I like to imagine what the person’s life was like. Who were they? What did they accomplish? Here are a couple of the older stones I found.
In the Priory museum there were remnants of a few very old crosses. This one was from the 9th century.
And this one was from the late 8th century.
Since all the picnic benches were taken, we ate our lunch in the car before heading back off the island. The Inn we’re staying in tonight wasn’t open yet (weird I know but the front desk is only open when the restaurant is open) so we headed to Etal Castle about 15 minutes away. Yes, I know I said in yesterday’s post we were done with castles but this one was a ruin so that’s different.
It was built around 1341 and was made up of a residential tower, a gatehouse and a corner tower all connect by what’s called a curtain wall.
The residential tower was 4 stories high and each story contained two rooms.
After visiting the ruins, we walked about a block into town to the Black Bull Inn, which is the only thatched-roofed pub in all of Northumberland.
There we enjoyed an adult beverage while waiting for 4pm so we could check into our inn, which oddly enough, is also called Black Bull Inn. Must be a popular name.
Tomorrow we head back to Edinburgh to drop off the car. But on the way, we’re going to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. No, Peter didn’t fall again. We’re picking up the CD with his head CT images so we can FedEx it to his neurologist in AZ. He tried to get it himself but couldn’t connect with anyone so I told him we’d give it a shot. I spoke with a very helpful woman in Medical Records this morning and she managed to get the records pulled for us. After getting those sent at the Mail Boxes Etc., we’ll have a nice lunch in Edinburgh before heading out to the airport. Hopefully, it goes as smoothly as that. I’ll let you know.