HOLY ISLAND, is an island situated about two miles from the coast of Northumberland, but belonging, in all civil matters, to the county of Durham : (See DURHAM, VOL viii. p. 201. col. 2.) It is situated opposite to the mouth of the brook Lindis, from which it received the name of Lindisfarne. By the Britons it was called Jai Medicante, and by the English Holy Island, from being the residence of several of the fathers of the Celtic church, and also from having been the episcopal seat of the see of Durham during the early ages of Christianity in Britain. The church of the monastery is in ruins. Its north and south walls are still standing, though they decline greatly from the perpendicular. The east wall is fallen, but great part of the west still remains. The arches arc in general strictly Saxon, and the pillars on which they rest are short, strong, and massy. The pointed windows indicate that the building has been repaired at a subsequent period. The length of the body of the church is 138 feet ; its breadth 18 feet, and 36 feet including the two aisles. Mr Selby, the proprietor of the island, has lately repaired the weakest part of the walls. The stones appear red with fire, and are wasted away so as to resemble a honey comb.
" A solemn, huge, and dark red pile, Placed on the margin of the isle." The remains of the priory and offices stand on the south side of the monastery, the inside of the walls being built of whinstone, obtained from the rock, which forms a high natural pier on the south side of the island.
The parish church, situated to the west of the monas tery, is a plain but spacious Gothic edifice. The pedestal of St Cuthbert's cross, once highly esteemed, is now called the Pelting Stone.
Holy Island is accessible at low water by all kinds of carriages, though there is considerable danger in crossing the sands without a guide. The island, which is a con tinued plain, is nine miles in circumference, and contains nearly 1020 acres, about one half of which is sand banks.
On the north-east side of the island is a tongue of land, about a mile long, and in several places not more than 60 yards wide. The tide may be here seen ebbing on the east, and flowing on the west. Though the soil is rich, yet, before the enclosure of the common in 1792, only 40 acres were in tillage. In 1790, the rent of the whole island was 3201., and in 1797, 9261. The town lies on the west side of the island. It appears to have been once much larger, from the names and ruins of the streets. It is principally inhabited by fishermen. The harbour, which is small, lies between the town and the castle, and it is defended by a battery. The castle stands on a lofty whin stone rock on the south-east part of the island, about 60 feet high, and accessible only by a narrow winding pass. It is generally garrisoned by a detachment of invalids.
The parish of Holy Island is likewise called Island shire, and contains the chapelries of Kyloe, Lowick, An cooft, and Tweedmouth.
Holy Island was made a bishop's see by King Oswald in 635. In 652, the church was enlarged, but was only made of timber, and thatched ; and, in 698, Eadberct, who was bishop for 10 years, covered the roof and walls with sheets of lead. The Danes landed on the island in 793, and a second time in 875, when Bishop Eardulph, along with the inhabitants of the island, took up the body of St Cuthbert, and left the island, with all their relics and sacred utensils. After a• pilgrimage of seven years, they at last settled in Chester-le-street.
According to the returns in 1811, there were in Holy Island -See Scott's Marmion, canto ii. which contains a fine poe tical description of Holy Island ; the Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xii. p. 228 ; and Hutchinson's History of _D u rha