Pilgrim Ways

Winds, waves, and northern pirates‟ hand.

Not but that portions of the pile, Rebuilded in a later style, Shewed where the spoiler‟s hand had been; Not but the wasting sea-breeze keen, Had worn the pillar‟s carving quaint, Had moulder‟d in his niche the saint, And rounded, with consuming power, The pointed angles of each tower: Yet still entire the Abbey stood, Like veteran, worn, but unsubdued.

Where To Find The Northern Saints: Lindisfarne, Durham and Ripon.

In 1888 the owner of Lindisfarne, Major General Sir William Crossman, excavated the Priory and after it was transferred to the Ministry of Works more excavation was undertaken in the 1920s. Substantial renovation of the medieval parish church of St.Mary the Virgin was completed in the nineteenth century and a small museum was created . In the churchyard, overlooking the ruins of the Norman Priory, is an eleven foot high statue of St.Aidan bearing aloft a torch, which symbolises the light of the Gospel, and in his right hand is his bishop‟s crozier. His head if framed against a Celtic cross.

Apart from Fridays in winter the museum is open all year round and attracts some 50,000 visitors a year. Today‟s pilgrim will need to travel south should they wish to pray at Cuthbert‟s grave.

The monks exhumed Cuthbert‟s body to prevent its desecration and in 995 brought it to Durham (see chapter 3, Cathedrals ). According to the twelfth-century chronicler, Simeon of Durham, St.Aidan‟s relics were placed in the coffin-reliquary of St.Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral. When the Normans opened Cuthbert‟s tomb they found his body uncorrupted and when he was reburied, the head of his friend the king, St.Oswald, was placed beside him. To this day, St.Cuthbert‟s body lies in the cathedral. St.Bede was brought here in 1370 and buried in the Galilee Chapel.

Elsewhere in the north east, at Tynemouth, are the remains of a Priory associated with St.Oswald, a church which contains the sites of the shrines of St.Oswyn and St.Henry.

St.Wilfrid is to be found at Ripon cathedral; his shrine is beneath the east window of the church. The crypt contains some of his belongings and continues to act as a focus of interest in Wilfrid. Each year there is a procession on the first Saturday in August led by a man dressed as St.Wilfrid and - portraying his purity - he rides astride a white horse. Close to Ripon lies Fountains Abbey and further to the east lies Whitby (see Chapter 3).

A Meditation: The Celtic Benediction Deep peace of the running wave to you Deep peace of the flowing air to you Deep peace of the shining stars to you Deep peace of the quiet earth to you Deep peace of the Prince of Peace to you.