The twin Saxon monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow - 'one monastery in two places'- were the creation of one man, Benedict Biscop, who had travelled abroad (to Rome and elsewhere) in the 650s and had returned determined to build a monastery 'in the Roman manner'. The historian Bede was a member of the community from the age of seven, having been entrusted to Benedict Bishop c. 680. Wearmouth The church of St. Peter was founded in 674 on a site that had already been a lay burial ground. It is the earliest documented stone church in the north. It had a simple narrow chancel, possibly with narrow aisles; the western porch became the basis for the late Saxon tower, and the east end was used as a porticus where the abbots were buried. Benedict imported specialist Gaulish masons and glaziers to do the work. Fragments of the contemporary coloured window glass have been excavated at both Wearmouth and Jarrow. Excavations have shown that the buildings of the cult centre were joined by a corridor that extended south from the church and were enclosed by a wall in an orderly layout. This layout is unique in excavated monasteries in Europe and demonstrates the survival of a Roman style of layout..."
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List
7th Century Glass Window of St. Paul's Church, Jarrow. Thnaks to Brian of UK.
7th Century Glass Window of St. Paul's Church, Jarrow. Thnaks to Brian of UK.
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