St Cuthbert

Jarrow has a very long and distinguished history. It was one of the first places to be invaded by the Vikings, who eventually colonised the North East. It was also the home of the Venerable Bede, a scholar, monk and writer, known as the Father of English History.

The church of St Andrew is situated in the centre of the village on a hill top opposite the Swan Inn. The church was consecrated in 630 and still retains many Saxon and later Norman elements. Nikolaus Pevsner called it 'a church of considerable archaeological fascination'. The parish church has been an important part of village life since these times and is still in use for regular worship to which all are visitors are very welcome.

In what had been a promontory clifftop overlooking the north of the harbour and estuary of the River Wear, 60 hides of land were given by King Ecgfrith for Benedict Biscop to found the monastery of St Peter in the name of the Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury in 673 AD. This was the beginning of a new project a movement to bring learning, culture and the Christian religion to the north of Saxon Britain.