The west end of the church, note the wonderful blue sky!
Looking toward the east end. The item that looks like Darth Vader's helmet is a recent artwork created as a memrial too St Cuthbert.
A few fragments of the decoration remain.
Looking from the east end towards the west
The steps to the monks' dormitory
Very little remains of the priory except for the church but this is the warming room (hence the large fireplace on the ground floor), and the abbott's lodging (hence the smaller fireplace on the first floor).
The current parish church of St Mary the Virgin is in the centre of the photo. It was closed today. It is older than the ruins of the priory!
"Cuthbert of Farne" by Fenwick Lawson, 2001
St Aidan, 1958
It was quuite a walk to Lindisfarne Castle
The clock was working!
Unusually, the table in the dining room was displayed as though a meal had just finished.
Another working clock!
Not a bad view!
Looking back to the Priory
Looking towards Bamburgh Castle
Another view looking back towards the Priory
From Lindisfarne, we drove to Floors Castle.
Despite its name, it is really an estate house rather than a
castle (as it is not a fortification). It was first built in the
1720s and then expanded about 100 years later. It is the seat of
the Duke of Roxburghe and the largest inhabited castle in
Scotland.
This oak tree was clearly very old. Find Satoshi in the photo to get an idea of its size.
Once again, we were not permitted to take photos inside. I
couldn't find much on interent either but, rest assured, all the
rooms we saw were wonderful! After a very nice afternoon tea in
the café (with fresh and moist chocolate cake), we did a quick
tour of the gardens.
A statue of Mercury
This is actually the carpark but it was one of the nicest carparks we have seen so far!
Then we drove to Melrose to see the abbey. Unfortunately,
Historic Scotland, the body that looks after ruins such as
abbeys in Scotland, has decided that a large number of its sites
are "unsafe" and have limited visitor access to them. As we had
learned about this before we left home, it was not unexpected
but it was still disappointing and frustrating! Melrose Abbey was
founded in 1136. It was badly damaged during a raid by Richard
II's army in 1385 but was rebuilt. Much of what is left to see
today dates from that time.
This oak tree was clearly very old. Find Satoshi in the photo to get an idea of its size.
A statue of Mercury
This is actually the carpark but it was one of the nicest carparks we have seen so far!
I tried to take photos without the fence but i was not always possible. Only the foundations of the nave survive (which you can see in the foreground of the photo. The quire and the presbytery are beyond/
As we didn't have much time before the abbey closed, we "did" the museum first (as that was going to close first). These statues were originally on the exterior of the abbey. They have been taken down and put in the museum so they would be protected from the elements. From left to right: The Virgin and Child, St Paul, St Andrew and St Peter
This is the keystone from one of the vaults (ie the ceiling). It depicts a grotesque human face with blood-sucking leeches at the eyes and mouth. The idea was to scare away evil spirits!
As you can see, part of the church still has a roof. This is because it was used as the parish church until 1810.
Some of the floor tiles are still extant.
Even the finer details of some of the windows has survived.
I so wanted to get inside!!
A section of the cloister
There was so much left of the church that it felt like it was within the realms of possibility to restore it.
Even the bell was still there!
From Melrose, it was only a short distance to
Jedburgh, where ouur accommodation for the night was located. We
were told at the hotel that there were only three options for
dinner - Indian, or either of two fish and chip shops. We chose
the fish and chip shop. The fish was "ok" and the chips were
good!
