The North: Wednesday

15 September 2010

The luxurious phase of our trip has now kicked in after the rigours of Norman dorm rooms, and midnight strolls on medieval stairwells to the outhouse. We never travel without our pub guides to ensure fabulous meals in every obscure corner where a 1000 Best Church lurks. The gastropub revolution began in full swing around the time we moved to London, so we have never been subjected to the terrible meals we remembered from our trip in the culinary Dark Age of 1974. Seeing Britain on $5 a Day involved cheap bed and breakfasts with nylon sheets — I will never forget the feel of those scratchy sheets — and greasy full English breakfasts. Three-course set lunches in cafes with a cup of soup named after an indeterminate vegetable, a choice of meat roasted until grey and no choice of whatever mix of mashed root vegetables that appeared on the plate — and I who dislike gravy had to actually look at the food which at least would have been hidden under the lashings of brown goop — and blessedly the apple crumble with lots of hot custard for the pudding. Often there was no dinner because only expensive restaurants in cities were open after 6 pm, and small towns had no restaurants at all. Frankly, things weren't much better outside of London 20 years later when Megan and I were here in 1994, also traveling budget class. I seem to remember one Saturday or Sunday when the only food we could find was the Pick-and-Mix at Woolworths.

The new twist on the gastropub in the countryside is the addition of boutique hotel rooms. Pubs of course were traditionally also hostelries for travelers, so most of the older pubs have upstairs rooms that are being refitted as bedrooms. Our Michelin pub guide has special symbols for pubs with rooms, so we used it to book rooms for the remainder of the week. Saturday's Financial Times confirmed the new trend with a front page banner on the best pubs with bedrooms across the country. Our dinners were superb; the breakfasts so good, we skipped a real lunch every day in anticipation of the dinner to come.

Next stop on the Saxon tour was Hexham Abbey which we had visited before, but long before we knew anything about Early Christianity in the North. Wilfrid was responsible for establishing the the monastic foundation here in 674. Wilfrid trained at Lindisfarne, but traveled to Rome with Benedict Biscop and became an advocate of Roman practice. In fact, he argued the winning side at the Synod of Whitby in 664. Hexham was burned by the Vikings, abandoned, and rebuilt as an Augustinian Priory in 1113. Twice a day, the sexton unlocks the gate to the narrow stairwell that allows visitors down into the crypt of Wilfrid's 674 church which was built with stones cribbed from nearby Hadrian's Wall and other Roman fortifications.

Bob in the crypt where Wildrid would have displayed
relics — a Roman practice

Recycled Roman stone in the crypt

The present church is a cornucopia of art treasures across the centuries.

The crossing and north transept of the medieval church

A Roman tombstone of Flavinus who died at the age of 25
after serving as a standard-bearer for 7 years in the army

Acca's Cross, 8th c.

A detail of the carving on Acca's Cross

A Green Man misericord, 15th c.

The Leschman Chantry Chapel, c. 1500 

Leschman: A Fox Preaching to Geese

Leschman: A Glutton

One of four Dance of Death panels
Death dances with a Cardinal. In the other panels he dances
with a king, an emperor, and a pope.

We drove over to the neighbouring town of Corbridge, a Roman garrison town, with an active history in the Border country wars.

There was a lovely, peaceful church, with a Saxon tower, and a fortified vicarage that I sadly didn't get in a photo.

Then it was time to head off in search of the three most important Saxon crosses, according to Bob's reading on the subject. The route to Bewcastle was along Hadrian's Wall, and the weather had turned beautiful and autumnal over the day, so we had to make a quick stop at an easy access point to the Wall.

Hadrian's Wall

A pond formed by quarrying beside the Wall

The Wall's ancient stonework

Hadrian's Wall Walking Path

Bewcastle in Cumbria, near the Scottish border, is reached by back roads through fields of grazing cows. Pevsner is quoted everywhere as having believed that Bewcastle's Cross and Ruthwell's Cross in Scotland are "in art the greatest achievement of their date in the whole of Europe." The date he refers to is late 7th century.

Bewcastle Churchyard

All four sides have intricate designs. The figure at the lower left is thought to be
either John the Evangelist or an aristocratic layman with a falcon. 

Christ stepping on beasts

Complex Interlacing

The Sundial

Birds and Vines

There is some evidence the carved designs are influenced by Syrian artwork. The long distance travel by Wilfrid and Biscop to Rome indicate that Northumbria was connected to the Mediterranean world. In addition, Theodore of Tarsus, educated in Syria, was Archbishop of Canterbury during the late 7th century. So the idea is not at all far fetched.