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Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey


Monkwearmouth–Jarrow was a twin-foundation, English, Roman Catholic monastery, located on the River Wear in Monkwearmouth and on the River Tyne in Jarrow, respectively, in the Kingdom of Northumbria and historic County Durham (now in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England). Its formal name is The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow. Jarrow became the centre of Anglo-Saxon learning in the north of England, producing the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar, St. Bede. It was confiscated from the Roman Catholic Church by King Henry VIII during his dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, and subsequently fell to ruin. The twin monastery was the UK's nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2011.

The monastery was founded in 674 by Benedict Biscop, first with the establishment of the monastery of St Peter's, Monkwearmouth on land given by Egfrid, King of Northumbria. His idea was to build a model monastery for England, sharing his knowledge of the experience of the Roman traditions in an area previously more influenced by Celtic Christianity stemming from missionaries of Melrose and Iona. A papal letter in 678 exempted the monastery from external control, and in 682 the king was so delighted at the success of St Peter's, he gave Benedict more land in Jarrow and urged him to build a second monastery. Benedict erected a sister foundation (St Paul) at Jarrow, appointing Ceolfrith as its superior, who left Monkwearmouth with 20 monks (including his protégé the young Bede) to start the foundation in Jarrow.


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