STEPHEN PLATTEN tells the story of a 20th century hermitage, and the remarkable man behind its construction.
IT was the summer of 1969, during my fourth stay at the friary at Alnmouth. Each year I'd spend a week there, and it was there that I finally decided to offer myself for ordination.
One of the friars I came to know well was Brother Harold Palmer. We'd much in common - we both liked trains, and I well remember him cycling down the road from the friary to Alnmouth station to catch a rare glimpse of a surviving steam locomotive.
This year Harold was in exploratory mode and, since I had my car with me, asked if I might take him to survey a site for a possible hermitage. Harold had already combed England in this search, having been as far southwest as Somerset. We set out across Northumberland with tape measure in hand and parked by a gate on the Eglingham to Glanton road.
After a short time we came upon Shepherd's Law, an old 'folly farm' with 18th century origins. The ruin then included a number of abandoned farm buildings with the shell of a rather fine tower at one corner. Our exploration was the beginning of a tale which would unfold over a quarter of a century.
Harold decided on Shepherd's Law and with the encouragement and support of Sir Ralph Carr-Ellison, on whose ground it stood, he began to plan for the future hermitage. The motivation to live a solitary life goes back to fourth century Egypt: St Anthony left the fleshpots of late antiquity to seek God in the loneliness of the desert. Anthony might be seen as Harold's earliest inspiration, but Harold has drawn on the nourishing waters of many wells.
The friary at Alnmouth, where we'd set out from, is dedicated to St Francis of Assisi. Francis founded a community of wandering missionary friars, but he also spent much of his time alone. Up and down the spine of Italy are scattered hermitages going back to the time of Francis himself: he remains an inspiration for Harold.
Then there's Cuthbert: the hermitage at Shepherd's Law is dedicated to both the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St Cuthbert. Cuthbert built a hermitage on Inner Farne 1,200 years before Grace Darling made her famous rescue near there. Northumberland is peppered with references to St Cuthbert: St Cuthbert's Cave, the ruined abbey on Holy Island - even the new footpath from the island to the Scottish borders is called St Cuthbert's Way. It is almost certain that Cuthbert, a missionary hermit and bishop, would have crossed the moors where Shepherd's Law now stands when on his missionary journeys. The hermitage there flows directly out of the early Christian history of the great kingdom of Northumbria.
Harold's 30-year-long pilgrimage is one of imagination, courage and (some would say) the “foolishness of God”. Starting in an old caravan, he began to live the life of prayer - at least six hours of prayer each day, and sometimes more.
Alongside this rich diet went an amazing energy and vision. Harold began to build his own home, like a hermit crab, within the shell of the old farm folly. Crumbling walls were taken down and the core of a new religious house began to arise during the 1970s. A small band of friends of extraordinary variety assisted the solitary friar in his enterprise - believers and nonbelievers, theological students and accountants, clergy and laity, men and women. All of them, in ones and twos, would help Harold place stone upon stone. He has a magnificent photographic record of those early days, in which sometimes all that can be seen are Harold, the caravan and an awful lot of snow!
The hermitage of St Mary and St Cuthbert, set among the moors at Shepherd?s Law.
The core of the original hermitage exemplified Harold's vision: a large living room and a kitchen area, and just two bedrooms - one for Harold and one for a guest. The entire loft area (apart from Harold's bedroom) became the chapel; it remains so as I write. Over the years it has been further adorned by the gifts of others and through Harold's international wanderings.
As the years passed the vision grew. How could others wishing to lead the solitary life, or simply seeking solace or retreat, join Harold? More cells were necessary, and work began again.
Parishes from across England contributed gifts of both money and personal energy; St Mary's Monkseaton was a prime mover. Michael and Eddie Pringle, builders from nearby Broome Park, constructed a fine new set of four cells, each with an upstairs bedroom and downstairs sitting room. Rather like the pattern in the ruined Carthusian priory at Mount Grace in North Yorkshire, people would live individual lives of silence and come together for prayer. In the summer of 1989 Robert Runcie, then Archbishop of Canterbury, came to Shepherd's Law to dedicate the new cells. It was a high point, with many people gathering there for the occasion.
But the absolute focus of Harold's vision still remained unrealised. He knew that there had to be a substantial church at the heart of the hermitage, calling all who came to contemplation and worship. Plans began to emerge.
Throughout all this, the life of the hermitage of St Mary and St Cuthbert has continued and deepened. It remains a simple life, still punctuated by six hours of prayer and often, when a priest is staying, by the Eucharist too. Light is provided by oil lamps and some portable gas mantles; there is no mains electricity. The recently installed wind generator provides power at present simply for the heating controls associated with the new chapel. There is mains water - Harold sensibly sited the hermitage only a few yards down the hill from a reservoir.
As plans for the church began to develop, so two other elements entered the scene. Harold's mother, now in extreme old age, was excited by her son's vision and pledged part of her inheritance to the completion of the church.
Alongside this, Harold's own pilgrimage took a new turn. After many years of prayer and reflection he perceived that he should confess what he had become and seek the Communion of the Roman Catholic Church, as a consecrated hermit. He saw his vocation as like that of John the Baptist - one who goes before to prepare the way.
Harold's vision had always been ecumenical, with frequent visits to a brother Capuchin hermit in southern France. The vision of the church grew in this ecumenical atmosphere: the architect turned out to be Roman Catholic, the trustees Anglican. One of the most regular visitors, a retired gynaecologist, is an Orthodox layman.
The church itself is a triumph. It is built in Romanesque or Norman style and sits high on the hill like some of the 11th and 12th century churches of Provence. It is a clear statement about the centrality of Christian worship - strong and yet elegant, it speaks of the spirit of God. The simplicity of much Franciscan architecture is there, and the acoustics tell of the echoes of heaven. Gregorian chant now often finds its way into the pop charts; there would be no better studio in which to record it than the church at Shepherd's Law.
On September 18 last year the church was dedicated by the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev and Rt Hon David Hope. Alongside the Archbishop stood the Bishop of Newcastle, the Rt Rev Martin Wharton, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, the Rt Rev Ambrose Griffiths. The service reflected the ecumenical vision behind the entire vision.
Brother Harold Palmer is now past the milestone of three-score years and 10 and he is philosophical (or perhaps better, theological) about what he would see as his modest achievement in the context of eternity. While remaining vigorous, he sees his task as eventually handing the achievement of his lifelong vision to a new community of men and women.
Some may live here permanently as he has; others will come for rest, retreat and refreshment. Those who come will stream in from all churches within the Christian tradition, including people from the Reformed churches. The ecumenical vision stands at the heart alongside the gracious example of Mary, the Mother of Christ the Lord, and Cuthbert, the hermit, missionary and bishop of an earlier Northumbria.
Some have marvelled at the achievement, while others have remained incredulous. Is this not one folly built within an older folly? Harold would point them to the “foolishness of God”, a phrase from the heart of St Paul's teaching. There has been a long tradition of “fools for God”, and the crucified Saviour - Harold would say - stands at the heart of that tradition. Hermits and follies come together on a lonely moor outside Alnwick! •
* The Rt Rev Stephen Platten is currently Bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Wakefield.