Lindisfarne, known also as Holy Island is a small island off the eastern coast of Northumberland, England, connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway.
The island is most famous for its monastery which, in 793, became the target of Viking raiders in their first raid on Europe. The monastery did not shut down for over eighty years after the incident, when the monks eventually fled. The present monastic ruins were first built during the post-Conquest monastic restoration, some centuries after the destruction of the first site.
Lindisfarne also has a small but imposing castle. This was originally a sixteenth century artillery fort and look-out tower guarding this vulnerable stretch of coastline close to the Anglo-Scottish frontier. In the Edwardian period it was totally reconstructed to the designs of Edwin Lutyens for Edward Hulton, the publisher of Country Life magazine.
The honey-based alcoholic drink mead is brewed on Lindisfarne.
The island is now very popular with tourists. It currently has a population of just over 150 people.[1]
Categories: [England] [British Islands] [Tourist Attractions]