Lindisfarne is a small island located about 3 miles (5 kilometers) off the coast of northern Northumberland, England. It is about 3 miles (5 kilometers) long and 2 miles (3 kilometers) wide, and lies about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The island is connected with the mainland at low tide. It is also known as Holy Island. The island is an area of exceptional beauty. It has the ruins of an abbey founded by Saint Aidan in 635, and of a Benedictine priory church built in 1093. Lindisfarne is a nature reserve.
In the late 600’s, the monks of Lindisfarne prepared a beautiful manuscript containing a Latin version of the gospels. The Lindisfarne Gospels (now in the British Library in London) was later taken to Chester-le-Street, near Durham, for safekeeping during Viking raids. There, in 970, Saint Aldred added between the lines of the Latin manuscript a translation into the Northumbrian dialect of Old English.
