Jarrow Hall (formerly Bede's World) is a museum in Jarrow, South Tyneside, England which celebrates the life of the Venerable Bede; a monk, author and scholar who lived in at the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Wearmouth-Jarrow, a double monastery at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, (today part of Sunderland), England.
The site features a museum dedicated to the life and times of the famous monk, with other features and attractions – including a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon farm and the 18th-century Georgian building Jarrow Hall House itself – reflected in a calendar of activities, including special themed events, an educational programme for schools and heritage skills workshops, alongside space for businesses and events. [1]
The Anglo-Saxon attraction Bede's World opened on an 11-acre site in Jarrow in 1993 at a cost of almost £10 million, and was run by the Bede's World Charitable Trust, with grant support from the local council. Although the complex attracted 70,000 visitors a year, it became no longer financially viable and ceased operation in February 2016. [2]
The writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg was critical of its closure, and in an item on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House in 2016, he contrasted the museum's plight to the large funding made available to the Garden Bridge Project in London, which was eventually cancelled. [3]
It was announced in August 2016 that the former Bede's World site would re-open as 'Jarrow Hall Anglo-Saxon Farm, Village and Bede Museum', to be managed by the charity Groundwork's South Tyneside and Newcastle trust. [4]
Following over £100,000 of investment by Groundwork and a soft-open in October 2016, the site fully launched on 8 April 2017, hosting activities for all ages including farm talks, live re-enactment combat, authentic Anglo-Saxon craft and lectures, as well as the reconstructed historical dwellings being renovated by authentically attired workers using traditional wattle and daub building techniques. The interior of Jarrow Hall House was also renovated with Georgian-era expertise provided by Durham University, and hosts a new coffee shop, Hive Coffee Company. The direction and development of the site during the relaunch period were led by Leigh Venus, former Venue Manager of Newcastle upon Tyne's historic Tyneside Cinema. [5] [6]
The Bede Museum building features an "Age of Bede" exhibit, which includes excavated artefacts from the historic monastery such as stained glass, imported pottery, coins and stone carvings, and exhibits about Anglo-Saxon culture, Bede's life and works, the life of a monk, and the medieval Kingdom of Northumbria.
There is a working reconstructed Anglo-Saxon farm called Gyrwe (pronounced "Yeerweh") after the Old English name for Jarrow, showing animal husbandry with full-size reconstructions of three timber buildings from Northumbria based on the evidence of archaeological work. Thirlings Hall was the largest, with animal hide and other objects. A wood-burning fire in the form of a small pit/designated area is used throughout the year, and allows for a great smell to filter through the building. The two other buildings, smaller in size, are a grubenhaus – a sunken building used as a cold store – and a monk's cell. All buildings are thatched and were built using traditional techniques.
The farm animals are of similar breeds to animals that would have been present circa 1300 years ago, to simulate the types of animals which would have been seen in Anglo-Saxon England; cattle are smaller and sheep more varied, before selective breeding methods were introduced. Ancient strains of wheat and vegetables, such as those the monks might have eaten, used to be selectively grown on site.
Visitors are able to tour the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon monastery of St Paul, which has been designated a scheduled monument.
The site also features a coffee shop located in Jarrow Hall House, an 18th-century Georgian property adjacent to the Bede Museum. The house was renovated in 2017. [7] The Medieval herb garden at the rear of Jarrow Hall House features over 200 species of herbs, and there is a gift shop within the Bede Museum. The site also house events and conference facilities, both within Jarrow Hall House and the Bede Museum building.
Bede, also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable, was an English monk and an author and scholar. He was one of the greatest teachers and writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gained him the title "The Father of English History". He served at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles.
Northumbria was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland.
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group that inhabited much of what is now England in the Early Middle Ages, and spoke Old English. They traced their origins to Germanic settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. Although the details are not clear, their cultural identity developed out of the interaction of these settlers with the pre-existing Romano-British culture. Over time, most of the people of what is now southern, central, northern and eastern England came to identify as Anglo-Saxon and speak Old English. Danish and Norman invasions later changed the situation significantly, but their language and political structures are the direct predecessors of the medieval Kingdom of England, and the Middle English language. Although the modern English language owes somewhat less than 26% of its words to Old English, this includes the vast majority of words used in everyday speech.
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, today in north-eastern England and south-eastern Scotland. Both during his life and after his death, he became a popular medieval saint of Northern England, with a cult centred on his tomb at Durham Cathedral. Cuthbert is regarded as the patron saint of Northumbria. His feast days are 20 March and 4 September.
Bamburgh is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census.
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon. In 664 Wilfrid acted as spokesman for the Roman position at the Synod of Whitby, and became famous for his speech advocating that the Roman method for calculating the date of Easter should be adopted. His success prompted the king's son, Alhfrith, to appoint him Bishop of Northumbria. Wilfrid chose to be consecrated in Gaul because of the lack of what he considered to be validly consecrated bishops in England at that time. During Wilfrid's absence Alhfrith seems to have led an unsuccessful revolt against his father, Oswiu, leaving a question mark over Wilfrid's appointment as bishop. Before Wilfrid's return Oswiu had appointed Ceadda in his place, resulting in Wilfrid's retirement to Ripon for a few years following his arrival back in Northumbria.
Ecgfrith was the King of Deira from 664 until 670, and then King of Northumbria from 670 until his death in 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nechtansmere against the Picts of Fortriu in which he lost his life.
Jarrow is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and The Boldons as part of the town, it had a population of 43,431. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne Tunnel and 5 mi (8.0 km) east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. No universally accepted example survives above ground. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers or sited to serve as ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.
South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England.
Chad was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised as a saint.
Aldfrith was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon as a man of great learning. Some of his works and some letters written to him survive. His reign was relatively peaceful, marred only by disputes with Bishop Wilfrid, a major figure in the early Northumbrian church.
Hilda of Whitby was a saint of the early Church in Britain. She was the founder and first abbess of the monastery at Whitby which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. An important figure in the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, she was abbess in several convents and recognised for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.
Saint Ceolfrid was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and a major contributor to the project to produce the Codex Amiatinus Bible. He died in Burgundy while en route to deliver a copy of the codex to Pope Gregory II in Rome.
Jarrow Hall is a grade II listed building in Jarrow, Northeast England, and part of the larger Jarrow Hall museum site. It was built around 1785 by local businessman Simon Temple; he later went bankrupt in 1812 after a series of poor investments. The hall then passed through a number of hands before being let to the Shell Mex company in 1920, and then the Jarrow Council in 1935. The Council used the hall for a storage depot, eventually letting the building become derelict and in threat of demolition. It was rescued by the St Paul's Development Trust, which funded a £50,000 restoration project.
Hartlepool Abbey, also known as Heretu Abbey, Hereteu Abbey, Heorthu Abbey or Herutey Abbey, was a Northumbrian monastery founded in 640 CE by Hieu, the first of the saintly recluses of Northumbria, and Aidan of Lindisfarne, on the Headland Estate of Hartlepool now called the Heugh or Old Hartlepool, in County Durham, England.
St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth is the parish church of Monkwearmouth in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is one of three churches in the Parish of Monkwearmouth. The others are the Victorian All Saints' Church, Monkwearmouth and the Edwardian St Andrew's Church, Roker.
Gilling Abbey was a medieval Anglo-Saxon monastery established in Yorkshire, England.
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow, known simply as Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, was a Benedictine double monastery in the Kingdom of Northumbria, England.
Dame Rosemary Jean Cramp, was a British archaeologist and academic specialising in the Anglo-Saxons. She was the first female professor appointed at Durham University and was Professor of Archaeology from 1971 to 1990. She served as president of the Society of Antiquaries of London from 2001 to 2004.