Monkwearmouth/Jarrow

Despite being grouped together the twin monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow are actually about seven miles apart. Their connection was a very real one though since they were both founded by the same man and were both home to that most famous of Saxon scholars: Bede. Bede was that rarest of people in the Dark Ages, a well-educated polymath. He not only wrote the sole contemporary history (as opposed to chronicle) of Anglo-Saxon times, he also wrote tracts on astronomy and mathematics as well as chronology. His use of Anno Domini (AD) was so successful that it overrode all other dating systems to become the one used until this day. I will say more about Bede later since there is a museum dedicated to him in Jarrow. In fact, the metro station closest to Jarrow Abbey is called Bede. Despite being grouped together there are three separate places here: Wearmouth Abbey, Jarrow Abbey, and the museum known as Bede's World which features a reconstructed Saxon village.

 
Monkwearmouth

 The only reason that I was in Newcastle was to start my Hadrian's Wall hike. There are two Roman forts connected with this in Newcastle so the plan was to get the metro to these forts and then walk back from there. Unfortunately(?) when looking at the maps my co-hiker spotted Jarrow just to the west of South Shields and recognized it as the place where Bede lived. It didn't take much work to discover that there were in fact two sites associated with Bede within easy traveling distance of the metro. Needless to say our Roman forts were put on hold until after visiting the Anglo-Saxon sites. The first of our stops was at the abbey Wearmouth, which is now the church of St. Peter's. If you look at the picture most of what you see is later medieval. The area marked off by lines of stone in the top picture is the foundation of the original Abbey. The monastery itself was slowly drained of resources before it was sacked by Vikings in the 9th Century. There must have been a good deal left at the site because much of the current church is merely an expansion upon the Anglo-Saxon frame.

This was the first of the twin monasteries and was founded by Benedict Biscop in 674 on land given him by king Ecgfrith. It was easily the most impressive monastery in Britain at the time since it was the first to be constructed entirely of stone. He actually imported stonemasons from the Merovingian kingdoms to build in a material completely unfamiliar to the Saxons. This was very much a prestige building, and given the relative simplicity of it one can grasp how truly primitively the Saxons lived. More on that in Bede's World. Also present were hundreds of manuscripts acquired from God knows where since the library which Bede was able to call on for his Ecclesiastical History was quite impressive.

 It's pretty impressive to think that this is the door that Bede used 1300 years ago. Combine this door with the chair from Jarrow and he doesn't feel all that distant. Bede was sent here when he was about seven to be educated in the monastery. Both Biscop and him were from the local nobility which probably explains much about how Bede was able to become his protege. Despite what the guides imply, Bede was only likely to be here for three years since he was transferred to the new monastery at Jarrow along with Ceolfrith, the abbot of the combined monastery. He was born on lands owned by the monastery however so he must have been very familiar with it even before he was sent there.

This was originally the church of the abbey. The rest of the monastery was located in the area to the right of the church. It consisted of a walled-in courtyard that connected the church to the living quarters which are now gone. If you look closely you can see the stone paths in the ground marking where the walls once stood. The front tower is almost entirely Saxon although the top is Norman. The two pillars on either side of the door are original as is the lowest window. Originally there was an animal frieze just below the window and a statue just above it (you can still see where it was held). The entire church would have been painted and looked quite different than it does today.

The inside of the church is fairly medieval. After the sack the site lay abandoned for about 200 years until it was refounded as a new abbey under the Normans. This abbey lasted until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries when it was converted into a noble estate. The front of the church itself is largely Saxon in structure although the tower in front is a Norman addition. The rest of the church was built in the 14th Century.

The main entrance wall looks pretty much exactly as it would have in Bede's time. This was the main entrance, although now there is another around the back with a small cafe attached and this door is gated off from the outside. If you ask though they will let you out the door from within.

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Jarrow

The monastery at Jarrow was founded by Biscop in 682 after the great success of his abbey in Wearmouth. Bede was probably transferred here at this point. Certainly he spent most of his remaining life here. This is where he wrote his works and this is where he died in 735 in his 60s, which was not a bad age for that time. Most of this front is Victorian having been built to replace the Norman nave which collapsed. A large section of it is Saxon but it can't be seen from here.

These lines of stone in the ground mark the site of the original Saxon foundations. The surviving walls are from the Norman Abbey later built on the same spot. Like its twin the monastery was built on a river, though this time it was on the river Don. The river is located down a sharp slope just beyond the trees at the end of the photograph. It's a very small river and it kinda smells. I'm not sure how big it was in Saxon times but I think the smell is certainly modern. However small it didn't stop the Vikings from coming in and sacking the place.

The surviving church was originally the abbey church for the monks. Parallel to it was a large building for the monks. This picture was taken in the main monastic buildings and was where the monks lived. Presumably Bede's library was somewhere in here, although not this building exactly since this was a kitchen.

This picture shows the decline leading to the river Don. There was a guesthouse here and glass-working facilities as well as a Saxon dock. This was an extremely prosperous community for the Saxons as well as a prestigious building for the king.

The part of the building to the left of the tower is entirely modern, Victorian mostly. It is built over the larger of the two churches. It served as the church for the local population while the smaller one was for the monks exclusively. The section to the right of the tower was the smaller church. It survives mostly intact.

These three windows are Saxon originals, although only the middle one still has the original glass intact. These are the earliest examples of stained glass in England. It must have been quite impressive for the time.

Between the churches and the monastic buildings was the Saxon graveyard. Unlike in Wearmouth the two buildings were not joined by a wall so this area was open to everyone. When this was a Norman abbey this area was the cloister.

The nave of the church is entirely modern. It seems hard to believe that this was originally a Saxon church. Bede would have grown up here and possibly even helped in its construction. For all its luxury it was not an easy life for him. When he was about 14 a plague wiped out the entire community of monks except for him and Ceolfrith. While they were able to restock their supply of monks this must have been quite a blow to a young boy.

 

There is a nice stone cross behind glass in one wall of the church. It contains the phrase in hoc singulari signo vita redditur mundo which means roughly "in this unique sign life was restored to the world. I quite like it because it seems based off of Constantine's vision in hoc signo vincis (in this sign conquer). That alone shows how well-educated these monks were. In Bede's World there is a reproduction of this cross with the message intact looking much as it would have 1300 years ago. It may be surprising to see it painted (especially in such garish colors) but most Roman and medieval stonework was painted. It wasn't until the paint had worn off that Renaissance artists decided that stone looked better plain. There isn't much detail about Saxon coloration but the white and red stone pictured above seems a pretty good guess.

This is the Saxon chancel and is almost completely intact. The stained glass windows are new, but the one just to the right of this picture is original.

This Saxon door was originally Ceolfrith's door, but it has been blocked off since.

This is Bede's chair. Well, probably not. It may be Saxon but there's no way of knowing who sat in it. Even the guides admit there's no evidence for it. Yet Bede's chair it shall remain.

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Bede's World

 This is the opening room to Bede's World. I know, I know, it sounds like the worst theme park of all time. But it's actually a really good museum and well worth the cost of admittance. The main attraction is the reconstructed Saxon village of Gyrwe, but the museum itself features many replicas and artifacts.

This is a reconstruction of what Saxon statues to their gods would have looked like before they converted to Christianity. It's a pretty cool design although it is entirely imaginary.

A beautiful golden cross. Another reconstruction, although I believe that this one was based off a real artifact.

 The main room has these monks working on it using authentic Saxon methods. The idea being I suppose that you're within the monastery as they build it. It would probably be more effective if the rest of the room wasn't so modern.

 This is reconstructed Anglo-Saxon stained glass based on pieces recovered from digs. Which leads me to my only minor complaint about this museum. The reconstructed Saxon village is great, but why isn't there more of an attempt to recreate the monastery? I know that funds are limited so building a full replica of it wouldn't be cost effective, but couldn't they have even made a room or two? There are plenty of expensive replicas on display here so I know they had the money to do it.

A portrait of Bede. A very odd portrait of Bede. I know that portraying a man who was never represented visually during his lifetime is hard, but this is just silly. It's a wire mesh sculpture that always reminds me of a death mask.

This is the Saxon farm. There are real animals here which have been bred to be as close in appearance to Saxon animals as can be found. They tend to be smaller and less standardized than modern farm animals.

This is a barnhouse which contains a number of animals in quite modern cages to save on the cost of having someone mind them as the Saxons must have done. The area was pretty abandoned when we went there so I hope it is doing well. This place must be expensive to maintain.

An authentic Saxon garden with modern plant names.

I thought this was quite clever. It's a barrow tomb. Presumably a member of the local nobility had himself buried here in as grad a style as he could afford.

At the top of the hill overlooking the village is a beautiful Saxon cross. It can be seen from any of the houses in the valley which leads easily to the view that God is watching over them.

This is Thirlings Hall. It's the largest house of the bunch: a village hall based on one excavated in Thirlings, Northumberland. The sign in front says that it was constructed using authentic Anglo-Saxon tools and material, which is quite impressive.

Inside the hall is an open floor firepit and a series of benches. The townsfolk would have met here for meetings and social events.

This is a monastic workshop based off one in Hartlepool. This is where monks like Bede would go to pray or read in isolation.

I'm going to assume that there would have been something more in the way of amenities in an actual house. Even monks need a place to sit and sleep.

This is a Saxon storehouse. They'd use it to store grain and meat for the coming year. It's mostly dug underground with just a roof overhead to protect it from the weather.

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