Lindisfarne

Aidan came from Iona around 634 and founded a monastery here that became the centre of Christianity in northern England; Cuthbert was its most famous bishop, and the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript of extraordinary quality, were made on the island around 700 and are now in the British Library. A Viking raid in 793 on this monastery is the event usually taken as the start of the Viking age in England. The priory ruins are Norman, built after the community returned. Lindisfarne Castle, a small Tudor fort on a rock, was converted into a holiday house by Edwin Lutyens in 1901, with a walled garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. The causeway floods twice daily and refuge boxes stand on stilts for drivers who ignore the tide tables.

Highlights

• The priory ruins - Norman rebuilding on the site of Aidan's monastery.
• Lutyens' castle - a Tudor fort remade as an Edwardian house in 1901.
• The Jekyll garden - a small walled planting scheme north of the castle.
• The causeway - a road that floods twice a day, with stilted refuge boxes.

When to go

April to October for full opening of castle and priory; crossing times are dictated by the tide, not the clock, so the safe window shifts daily and must be checked before setting out. Winter brings pilgrims and heavy weather.

Practical notes

The crossing window can be as short as a few hours and cars are wrecked on the causeway every year by drivers who chance it. The Gospels are in London, not here. The island is small and gets very crowded in the middle of the safe window.

Nearby

Bamburgh lies south; Berwick-upon-Tweed is north.

Key facts