St. Cuthbert's Church

In the village of Norham, are two interesting bits of history. First there is the Norham Castle which we could only see at a modest distance since it is closed during the week this time of year. I fail to see why a place that free to enter should be closed when it is already a ruin!

The other place is St. Cuthbert's church. A building with a curious mixture of very old and just really old...roman and gothic windows. Ecgred of Lindisfarne (or Egfrid) was Bishop of Lindisfarne from 830 until his death in 845 (Wikipedia). He replaced the wooden church on this site with one of stone. With modification and improvements over the centuries, here it is.



We were the only people around and the church was dark and cold inside. It find it difficult to imagine men (for they all were, weren't they) being able to concentrate on God when they were so very cold. I suppose if you only cold and not cold and hungry it gets easier.

It is unclear to me when the stained glass dates to, but it is quite nice. From the inscriptions at the base of the windows about various priests and vicars, I'd say they are relatively recent.

But there are still parts that seem to predate modernity.

And an explanatory poster in the church tells us that this wall burial is the oldest known one on the site. Of course, in the 800's Ecgred of Lindisfarne brought the remains of St. Ceolwulf here for safekeeping and when the Vikings raided Northumberland, St. Cuthbert's burial place was moved here to keep it safe. However, the exact location of these bodies is not known. This is the oldest one documented.

The darkness of the interior adds to the drama of the stained glass that depicts the Venerable Bede.

In the churchyard, still active after all these centuries, is a place of interesting gravestones.

This angel sets this one apart from the usual.

It is clear that for some period of time, it was common to paint the stones white.

At the edge of the cemetery is this large tree, standing vigil over the deceased. As you see, the trunk(s) are covered in ivy providing a metaphor for the like after death that this place represents.