Monastic site History
History of the monastic site
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ST.PAUL'S MONASTIC SITE.
St Paul's Church and Monastery was built on land given by King Ecgfrith of Northumbria in AD 681.
It was founded by Benedict Biscop, who, seven years previously had built the church and monastery of St Peter at Monkwearmouth.
The chancel of St Paul's is the original Saxon church built as a seperate chapel, possibly dedicated to Our Lady.
A large Basilica was built on the site of the present nave and dedicated on 23rd April AD 685.
The monastery, to which the Venerable Bede came as a boy, thrived in the 7th and 8th centuries.
It was here that Bede lived, worked and worshipped.
His bones now lie in the Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral.
In AD 794 the Vikings sacked the church and monastery, but in AD 1074 the church was repaired and the Monastery re-founded by Aldwin, Prior of Winchcombe Abbey in Gloucestershire. The monastery then became a daughter house of the Benedictine Community of Durham.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, St Paul's remained in use for worship as the Parish Church.
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Photo produced by kind permission of Roger Spence.
THE KNOWN HISTORY OF JARROW begins with the life of its founder Benedict Biscop. He was a Northumbrian of noble birth who had given up a military career in order to become a monk. Biscop had visited Rome in 653 at the age of 25yrs. and was so greatly impressed by the stately churches with their elaborate decoration, the services with their impressive ritual, and all the treasures that these churches contained, that he longed to enrich his own native land with some of this art and beauty.
He took monastic vows at Lerins, an island off the south coast of Gaul. He had visited Rome three times when King Ecgfrith of Northumbria gave him some 15 square miles of land on the north bank of the river Wear at Wearmouth, and here he established a monastery and built a church dedicated to St. Peter. Part of the original church still stands and today the church is known as St. Peter's church, Monkwearmouth.
In the year 681, King Ecgfrith, being so pleased with the success of the foundation at Wearmouth, gave Benedict Biscop a grant of land, some 9 square miles in area, at Jarrow, where the rivers Don and Tyne meet, ( about 8 miles away from St. Peter's ) and here another monastery and church were built. It was dedicated in honour of St. Paul on 23rd. April 685. and the original dedication stone still stands inside the church. ~ Although a separate site from Wearmouth, St. Paul's, together with St. Peter's were regarded as twin churches ( one monastery in two places )
King Ecgfrith took great interest in the building of St. Paul's and chose the exact spot where the high altar was to stand. It is very likely that the King was also present at the monastery's dedication ceremony, but less than a month later he was slain in the battle of Nechtansmere at Dunnichen Moss, near Forfar in Scotland , whilst fighting against the Picts.
Benedict Biscop himself was not present for the church dedication as he was once again in Rome, collecting books, relics, and pictures for the new church. Because of his frequent absences in Rome, Biscop appointed his friend and kinsman, Ceolfrith, to be abbot of the Jarrow monastery and it is Ceolfrith's name that appears on the dedication stone.
Among those present at the dedication ceremony was a boy of eleven years of age who was destined to become the most famous of them all, Bede.
