St Paul’s Church, Jarrow Hall and Bede museum

Bede’s Way is a 12-mile pilgrimage connecting the historic church of St. Paul’s in Jarrow to its counterpart monastery at Wearmouth

Highlights

• The Venerable Bede’s church and monastery
• Jarrow Hall and Bede Museum of early Christian community
• Oldest stained-glass fragments

St Paul’s Church is in some ways the starting point of English Christian history. The Venerable Bede, perhaps the brightest saint in English history, worked and worshipped in this very Saxon building. A nearby museum has been built to honour his achievements.

Bede’s 7th-century church still stands on the outskirts of Jarrow, and is now the chancel of a much expanded parish church. It remains an active place of worship, open daily to visitors. Its narrow and dimly lit proportions emphasise just how far Bede’s scholastic achievements outstrip place and time.

The unaltered Saxon windows admit only a modest amount of Northumberland sunshine, filtered through fragments of the world’s oldest stained glass. Gaunt stone ruins stand outside, once the halls and corridors where Bede and his companions toiled, stretching to the mud-lined chase of a small river.

Were it not for the nearby heritage centre, the significance of this site might be lost on the casual visitor. For within the confines of this Saxon complex, one humble monk drew inspiration to write one of history’s greatest books. Still in print 1,300 years later, Bede’s masterpiece of research and story-telling sheds almost the only light we have on the earliest years of English Christianity.

The church building he knew is full of ancient wonder. Some of the stained glass is almost certainly the oldest in the world – though today the visitor can only see excavated fragments of it assembled into an abstract pattern, rather than any of the original designs. There are more fragments of 7th-century glass on display in the Jarrow Hall heritage centre, which includes the Bede Museum. For the oldest window depicting a recognisable scene, see Twycross (page 305).

Other points of interest include a very old chair, known as ‘Bede’s Chair’. It is certainly a chair, but Bede himself never sat in it, since it dates from the 11th century. Apart from the building itself there are no relics directly associated with Bede. The monastery was sacked by Vikings in 794 and much of it burned. Bede’s relics are in Durham Cathedral (page 381). If they were still at Jarrow I would consider this humble church the holiest place in England.

However, Bede would have seen another feature which has miraculously survived: the original dedication stone. This is inside the church, visible from the nave above the chancel arch. Inscribed in 685, it is just as legible today as it was when the church was inaugurated on 23 April. ‘Dedicatio basilicae…’ read the first two words. “The dedication of the church of St Paul on 23 April, in the 15th year of King Egfrith, and the fourth year of Abbot Ceolfrith, also under God’s guidance founder of this church.”

Under the care of this abbot, St Ceolfrith, Bede and his fellow monks illuminated the entire Christian world with their scholarship and literature. To give but one example, the world’s oldest intact copy of the complete Bible, the Codex Amiatinis, was written in Jarrow during Bede’s time.

St Ceolfrith, at the age of 74, carried this Bible to Rome to give to the Pope, but died en route at Langres in France in 716. By the time of his death Jarrow had become the most famous centre of learning north of the Alps. Bede was its star pupil, and spent almost his entire life here, travelling no further than 70 miles away, to Lindisfarne and York.

The relationship between St Ceolfrith and his young understudy stretches right back to Bede’s childhood. He was placed in the care of the monastery at the tender age of seven. At the time the monastery was based at Monkwearmouth, seven miles from Jarrow (listed overleaf). It proved so successful that its patron King Egfrith decided to open a second branch of the monastery in 682. So Bede and Abbot Ceolfrith were founding members. The monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow operated as a single institution, split over two sites.

A few years later, in 686, a plague killed nearly all Jarrow’s monks. An anonymous Life of St Ceolfrith records that the abbot and “one small boy” were the only survivors. Astonishingly the two of them managed to keep the church’s worship and liturgy alive by remembering the complicated settings for reciting the psalms with antiphons. This normally requires a two-part choir and years of training. It is not difficult to work out the identity of the child prodigy, who is unnamed in this account.

Though Bede is almost invariably linked to Jarrow, it is worth bearing in mind that he might have been based at Monkwearmouth. Bede went on to achieve many remarkable feats. Without him some of our greatest saints would be known only as obscure place names, or simply lost altogether. His book, A History of the English Church and People, is a decent sized paperback that is readable even today, full of wonder at the miracles of exotic missionaries, the intrigue of warrior kings, the endless struggles for the soul of a nation.

Any research into early Christian history quickly uncovers disagreement about the significance of this or that early saint. But with the Venerable Bede, all disagreement dies away. He is universally regarded as a genius.

We know little about his early life except for two revealing paragraphs at the end of his History. It says he was born “in the lands of this monastery”, which could mean either Jarrow or Monkwearmouth. A Jarrow tradition says he was born at Monkton, 1½ miles from the Jarrow church. A holy well used to exist in the town park marking the saint’s alleged birthplace, but it was dry and full of burned rubbish when I visited. Children were brought to the well as recently as 1740 and immersed in its healing waters.

He lived a relatively long life from about 672 to 735 and wrote dozens of books with meticulous care and devotion to both his subject matter and his readers. Among many achievements, he can be credited with formalising the system of AD and BC calendar dates the world uses today, counting historical dates from the birth of Christ onwards.

It is an astonishing feeling to stand in his very own church, to look up at the narrow tower, to pray where he prayed – and to pray for him as he requests at the end of his History. This church meant everything to the Venerable Bede. Alcuin of York records in a letter that Bede’s fellow monks once asked why he didn’t skip church occasionally, presumably when he was ill towards the end of his life. “I know that the angels attend the services of our gathered brethren. What if they find me absent? Will they not ask ‘where is Bede? Why does he not join the brethren for their prayers?’”

Bede is a saint. The title Venerable is only bestowed on the greatest church fathers. He was called Venerable as early as 836 at a church council in Aachen. Pope Leo XIII officially declared him a ‘doctor of the church’ in 1899, the only native Englishman to receive such an accolade.

Bede is also the first writer known to have written in English prose, although those works have been lost. What survives is a huge body of Latin histories, Bible commentaries, grammatical textbooks, translations, and even two hymns which are still sung today (‘Sing we triumphant hymns of praise’ and ‘The hymns for conquering martyrs raise’). His saint’s day is traditionally 26 May, the date of his death, but since that clashes with St Augustine of Canterbury he is celebrated on 25 May.

When you’ve finished at St Paul’s Church, it is a short walk across the park to the Jarrow Hall heritage centre. This has a large and sensitively presented collection, with the Bede Museum giving a full picture of early monastic life. Archaeologists have found more 7th and 8th-century coloured glass at Jarrow than anywhere else in Europe. Bede says glaziers came from France to fit the monastery with stained glass – a technique then unknown in England. It must have been a dazzling sight.

Other exhibits in the heritage centre include art and craftworks from across Europe, demonstrating the international significance of the Jarrow school. There is a Saxon-style working farm alongside the museum buildings.

St Ceolfrith was originally buried in the monastic church at Langres after his death. His tomb became the scene of miracles, and his relics were eventually returned to Monkwearmouth. They were removed at the time of Viking raids and ended up at Glastonbury, though his grave is now lost. His saint’s day is 25 September.

A third saint associated with Jarrow is St Hwaetbert, who succeeded St Ceolfrith as abbot in 716 and also worked with Bede. He died in 747, but unusually for a saint he lacks a specific feast day or liturgical remembrance. Perhaps overshadowed by greatness.

Directions

St Paul’s Church, Church Bank, Jarrow NE32 3DZ

www.jarrowparish.info

W3W: dairy.hammer.indeed

GPS: 54.9805N 1.4724W

Jarrow Hall, Church Bank, Jarrow NE32 3DY

www.jarrowhall.org.uk

W3W: type.snaps.catch

GPS: 54.9823N 1.4741W

Bede Metro station: 800m

Directions: The church is on Church Bank, a quiet location set apart from the Tyneside metropolis. Heading north on the A19 towards the River Tyne tunnel, turn right at the large roundabout on to the A185 and then take the first left, signposted to the church and museum. After 500 yards you can see the church building on your right, down a narrow lane. Jarrow Hall is 300 yards away if you keep going straight ahead, a short walk across the grass.

Opening Times:‍

St Paul’s Church is closed for two months around Christmas, otherwise open in winter: Mon–Sat 11am–3pm, Sun 2pm–3:30pm; and in summer: Mon–Sat 10:30am–3:30pm, Sun 2pm–4pm. Bede’s angels continue to attend daily services here, and the church can organise special services for visiting church groups.‍

Jarrow Hall museum is also closed for two months in mid-winter. For ticket prices and season opening times, see the museum website or call 0191 424 1585.‍

Bede’s Well is in the middle of Campbell Park, hidden in trees 100m south from Adair Way where the public footpath crosses the road, at GPS: 54.9710N 1.5019W.