Originally called Lindisfarne after the stream which runs into the salt marshes, St Aidan calls the Island ‘Holy’ in his prayer. During the 11th century, in honour of the saints and monks who lived here, the Island became known more frequently as Holy Island. The legacy of its saints still makes it a very special place.
People come here for many reasons. Some find a peaceful place in which to contemplate the deeper things of life. Others arrive for a day out with the kids and to visit the ancient, and not so ancient, attractions. Others come on large pilgrimages or in smaller groups with their local churches.
Everyone who comes can find something to send them on their way refreshed for their daily life and St Cuthbert’s Centre aims to help you to do that.
Holy Island lies a few miles south of the Scottish border, just off the Northumberland coast. One of the few remaining tranquil areas of England it is home to about 140 residents with 45% of other housing given over to holiday cottages . The island welcomes more than 500,000 visitors each year.
It is linked to the mainland by a causeway which is covered twice a day by the sea for about 5 hours at a time. It is this feature of intermittent 'island hood' which provides a unique lifestyle for residents and an attractive and meaningful experience for visitors.
Holy Island is foundational for the history of Christianity in England. In the 7th century King Oswald of Northumbria,
whose court was at Bamburgh, asked the Bishop of Iona to send him a missionary to convert his pagan subjects.
There were already some Christians in his kingdom but much work still needed to be done.
The first missionary from Iona, ‘a man of a somewhat austere temperament, impulsive and impatient’, recorded his failure, saying that he could do nothing with so “intractable a people, and of such a stubborn and barbarous disposition”. Aidan suggested that if his fellow monk had been more patient, he may have had a more successful mission. And so, having drawn attention to himself, Aidan was picked to travel to Northumbria to convert Oswald’s people.
When he arrived, with twelve more brothers, he established a community on Lindisfarne because it was close to the centre of power in the most powerful British kingdom. From Lindisfarne he developed a highly successful mission and many people became Christians who remained faithful throughout their lives.
The Holy Island of Lindisfarne boasts a stunning and unique location. Whether it is the haunting cries of curlews or the singing of the seals, the wind whipping the rugged terrain, a fascinating history, or the experience of stepping off the mainland, the Island has something to offer all who seek fresh inspiration and a renewed sense of peace. It will create an impression with the casual visitor and the pilgrim long after they return home, especially if, in discovering the island, you also meet with the God who created it.