Lindisfarne Off The Beaten Path Tips by leics Top 5 Page for this destination

The Pilgrims Way

Just something to notice as you walk the island, or drive the causeway.

The tall poles mark the pilgrims' route across the sands.

Think of how many thousands of feet have trodden that path over the past 1000+ years.

But don't try the walk yourself. The sands are treacherous, with channels and moving quicksands. The tide comes in quickly, distances are perceptive and there are only two refuges for walkers.

The walk should only ever, ever be attempted with a local guide.

Even more solitude

Lindisfarne, one would think, is isolated enough.

But for some of the monks of its monasteries, both the early Anglo-Saxon community and the later Norman one, it was not always enough.

There is another tiny island between the existing Priory and the Northumberland coastline. accessible only at low tide, it has on it the remains of an ancient chapel.

St Cuthbert's Isle, for St Cuthbert wished most of all to live as a hermit, although he ended up as abbot and then Bishop of Lindisfarne. He built himself a cell and a chapel on this tiny isle and, later, an even more remote cell on Inner Farne.

It was on Inner Farne that he lived, and died, after he had served as Abbot of Lindisfarne.

He was a man seeking only solitude, but his life did not always allow him that solitude.

To get to St Cuthbert's Island (assuming the tide allows) take the road which leads past the churchyard of the more modern (though still old) church opposite the priory.

Gertrude Jekyll's garden

Gertrude Jekyll (1843 - 1932) was a famous garden designer, who created more than 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA. Robert Louis Stevenson, a friend, used her surname for his 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'.

In 1911 she created a small walled garden on Lindisfarne from what was originally the vegetable garden for the privately-owned castle. It is set at some distance from the castle, designed to be seen from within and to give excellent views of the castle and the sea from inside the garden itself.

In 2003 the National Trust recreated the Jekyll garden. It is a pleasant place to visit.....and provides some welcome shelter from the almost-ever-present Lindisfarne wind.

No entrance fee is required (although donations are welcomed). Just go through the gate to the castle and turn left acros the grass towards the stone walls in front of you.