Few ruins have been more celebrated, photographed or visited than those of Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island, Northumbria. Nor is this a recent phenomenon. Before photography, great painters came to the island or the coast nearby to paint these evocative ruins.
But why are they ruins?
Way back in the time of the Viking raids the then monastery was indeed ransacked and much blood spilled. But these ruins do not belong to those days. Their glory owes a great deal to the wonderful story of St Cuthbert, the Celtic hermit and missionary bishop (yes, he was both) who is most prominently honoured in Durham Cathedral but whose true 'home' was this and nearby islands and islets. So Cuthbert, who is still popular, brought their glory - from whence ruination?
They were not ruined, as many monasteries were, by the actions of Henry VIII, the Dissolution. Henry was rather keen on them as a defence against the Scots. Rather, they seem to have been gently worn away by a lack of enthusiasm to be based at this remote outpost, and eventually the failing buildings were cannibalised by the island's village for stones to build houses.
Speaking to a London minister this very week, he observed that his church was characterised not by division or unsound doctrine but by apathy. For all their photogenic beauty these ruins are, in fact, a testimony to loss of interest. On which basis no church is entirely safe.
Way back in the time of the Viking raids the then monastery was indeed ransacked and much blood spilled. But these ruins do not belong to those days. Their glory owes a great deal to the wonderful story of St Cuthbert, the Celtic hermit and missionary bishop (yes, he was both) who is most prominently honoured in Durham Cathedral but whose true 'home' was this and nearby islands and islets. So Cuthbert, who is still popular, brought their glory - from whence ruination?
They were not ruined, as many monasteries were, by the actions of Henry VIII, the Dissolution. Henry was rather keen on them as a defence against the Scots. Rather, they seem to have been gently worn away by a lack of enthusiasm to be based at this remote outpost, and eventually the failing buildings were cannibalised by the island's village for stones to build houses.
Speaking to a London minister this very week, he observed that his church was characterised not by division or unsound doctrine but by apathy. For all their photogenic beauty these ruins are, in fact, a testimony to loss of interest. On which basis no church is entirely safe.
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