Wearmouth-Jarrow To Be UK’s World Heritage Nomination In 2009
The Bishop of Jarrow The Rt Revd John Pritchard in the ruins of the monastery at Jarrow
The Wearmouth-Jarrow partnership is celebrating today’s announcement that the twin Anglo-Saxon monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, is to be the UK’s nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2009.
The nomination has major implications for North East England’s economy, international profile and potential for world-wide cultural, tourism and educational links. The bid has had wide regional support, including active support from MPs.
Wearmouth-Jarrow, a centre of European culture and home of the Venerable Bede in the 7th and 8th centuries, was one of the most influential learning and cultural institutions in the western world.
It was also home to the historian, scholar and Father of the Church, Bede, who helped to shape European culture in his own time, and whose influence on learning is still internationally recognised to this day.
Today’s announcement is a major coup for the Wearmouth-Jarrow partnership, which has been actively pursuing nomination for the site for more than four years, and a huge boost to the communities of the North East.
The announcement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport means Wearmouth-Jarrow could become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
The community of Wearmouth-Jarrow, described by Bede as ‘one monastery in two places’, was the creation of Benedict Biscop. The 7th-century Northumbrian nobleman – who made 6 journeys to Rome - gathered ideas, books, treasures, artists, craftspeople and teachers from across Europe in order to turn his innovative monastery into “a European powerhouse”. The site’s nomination marks the 1320th anniversary of Benedict Biscop’s death.
Benedict Biscop established the first part of the monastery on the north bank of the River Wear around AD 674. The second was begun at Jarrow, on the south of the Tyne, around AD 681.
The churches of St Peter, Monkwearmouth, in Sunderland, and St Paul, Jarrow, in South Tyneside still contain parts of Benedict Biscop’s original buildings, and would form the centre of the proposed Wearmouth-Jarrow World Heritage Site. This authentic 7thcentury fabric, combined with the results of archaeological study and the cultural significance of Bede’s work, is beyond compare. Both churches are still in active use as places of worship.
Wearmouth-Jarrow was architecturally innovative – Benedict Biscop brought stonemasons and glaziers from continental Europe to build in a way hardly seen in England since Roman days. The 7th-century fabric in both churches is the best surviving to be found north of the Alps. Excavations of the two sites has also produced 7th – 8thcentury coloured window glass on an unparalleled scale.
Wearmouth-Jarrow inspired the work of England’s first historian, Bede, the greatest scholar and theologian of his day. During his lifetime there was avid demand for his work and his writings have been studied internationally ever since. He was the first person to define an English cultural identity, two centuries before the country was politically united. He was also scientist, astronomer, mathematician, theologian, historian, biographer, geographer, poet, musician, and linguist, and is the only English person to have been awarded official recognition as a Doctor of the Universal Church.
The announcement from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport follows the inclusion of Wearmouth-Jarrow in 1999 on the UK’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.
In 2002 the Wearmouth-Jarrow partnership was formed to forward the bid, and the intention to achieve recognition for Wearmouth-Jarrow as a World Heritage Site was announced at Bede’s World in the presence of HRH The Duke of Gloucester. Under the chairmanship of the Bishop of Jarrow, the partnership brings together parishioners, local authorities, historians and archaeologists. Since then, the partners have been working on the practical steps and documentation that a successful nomination requires as well as campaigning for nomination by the UK government.
The Bishop of Jarrow, the Right Reverend John Pritchard, said:
“The Wearmouth-Jarrow Partnership is delighted that the sites, which incorporate the fabric of Benedict Biscop's 7th-century monastic churches, the largest collection of 7th-century coloured glass to survive in Europe, and embody Bede's international and lasting contribution to learning and culture, will be recognised in this way. Benedict Biscop's Wearmouth-Jarrow was a centre of inspiration and innovation, a European cultural crossroads which facilitated the exchange of learning and artistic skills, developing new ideas and art forms which have inspired the world ever since. Recognition as a World Heritage Site will rekindle that inspiration for future generations."
Cllr Paul Waggott the Leader of South Tyneside Council said:
“This is fantastic news not only for Jarrow and Wearmouth - but for north east as a whole.
St Paul's Monastery in Jarrow was home to medieval Europe's greatest scholar, the Venerable Bede who the lived and worked here 1300 years ago. It is universally acknowledged as the cradle of Christianity and fully deserves worldwide recognition.
Bede left us a unique legacy and securing this status will open up this chapter of history to an international audience, the benefits of which will be tremendous. It will bring a significant boost in tourism, potentially worth millions of pounds to the local economy and create and secure many jobs. This offers another real opportunity for us to raise the Borough’s profile as a great place in which to live, work and visit.”
Keith Merrin, Director of Bede’s World, added:
“This is fantastic news for the local communities around the two churches and the whole region. Already many thousands of adults and children from North East England and all over the World visit Bede’s World and the two churches each year. Inscription as a World Heritage Site and the work that will go on over the next four years towards that day will ensure that many more people are encouraged to visit and enjoy Wearmouth-Jarrow. This in turn will give a boost to the region’s profile and economy as well as increased opportunities for people to have fun, learn and get involved in projects in support of the bid.”