The ruins of Lindisfarne Priory are situated on Holy Island, about one mile off the coast of Northumbria in the north east of the UK. The island is linked to the mainland by a tidal causeway.
The monastery was founded in 634AD by the Irish monk St Aidan, who had been sent to Northumbria from Iona off the west coast of Scotland at the request of King Oswald of Northumbria. Lindisfarne became the base for Christian evangelising in the north of England and beyond
The monastery was attacked and plundered many times by marauding Vikings
This is a silhouette of a modern statue of St Aidan (by Kathleen Parbury) located in St Mary’s churchyard, Holy Island
It was here that the famous illustrated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels was created.
