Synagogue in Sunderland

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.

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.

Here is one of Pevsner's twelve most important monuments in Britain, the 8th century, Anglo Saxon Bewcastle Cross. Remarkably, it stands free in the churchyard where it has stood for nearly 1500 years. The church is rather simpler and certainly younger, parts of it dating from 1277, although mostly it is the Victorian alterations that endure. Simple though it is, visitors feel the peaceful and calming atmosphere of the church.