Holy Island, United Kingdom
Lindisfarne
A small island you can only reach at low tide. Irish monks brought Christianity to northern England from here.
Biblical significance
Aidan founded the monastery from Iona in 635; Cuthbert became its most famous prior and, after death, its most famous relic. The Lindisfarne Gospels were made here around 700. The Viking raid of 793 shocked Christian Europe and is conventionally taken as the start of the Viking Age. The monks eventually fled with Cuthbert's coffin, carrying it for seven years before settling at Durham.
Scripture
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Best time to go
Spring and autumn; check the tide tables in every season.
Visitor notes
The causeway floods twice daily — crossing outside safe times strands cars every year. Priory ruins are ticketed.
Coordinates
55.6797, -1.8018
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