THE author, a canon of Newcastle Cathedral, has lived on Holy Island for 30 years and she stresses that her aim was to ‘stick to reality’ in relating its history. Early chapters refer to the period beginning with the first inhabitants in 8000 BC, the foundation of a first monastery by St Aidan in the 7th century AD and the instigation of the first-ever school in Northumbria.
Subsequent chapters look at the impact created by Cuthbert (who became the sixth Bishop of Lindisfarne), the development of a village in the 9th century and the establishment of a 12th century monastery by the Benedictines of Durham, who coined the name of ‘The Holy Island of Lindisfarne’.
The latter section of the book deals with the period from the Reformation up to the present day, covering the acquisition of the castle by the National Trust in 1944, and insights into the lives of the island’s fishermen and the lifeboats they manned.