During Week 2, we head from Hartlepool Abbey up the coast to Tynemouth Monastery. We follow the coast from Hartlepool up to Tynemouth, which is between South Shields and Whitley Bay on the map below:
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| Image: world-guides.com |
Following the Heritage Coastal Footpath most of the way, we pass through the following sites of interest:
Crimdon – has the only sand dunes in the area as well as sea birds that migrate over from West Africa every year from May to August. The Little Tern lay 2-3 eggs in shallow sand scrapes on the beach at the mouth of Crimdon Dene (A dene is a small river in a ravine running down the cliff to the sea)
Castle Eden Dene – the only place left in the world where
you can find Magnesium Limestone Grasslands at the sea (a unique type of
grasslands).
Beacon Hill – the highest point on this part of the coast and originally a barrier reef in a tropical sea hundreds of millions of years ago. The photo below was taken by Charlie Hedley.
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Dawdon – has the last remaining beach in the area with
fossilized trees, leaves and bivalves.
Seaham – has one of the oldest churches in England, built
around 658 by King Oswy.
Ryhope Dene - has some Ancient Woodland further inland. The photo below was taken by Oliver Dixon
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Sunderland – on the River Wear – St Hilda first went to a small
nunnery on the banks of the River Wear before going to the Hartlepool and
Whitby Abbeys. The area became known as Monkswearmouth and the present church
of St. Peter’s was built in 674.
Here we start to follow part of the Northern Saints Trail System, specifically the part of The Way of Learning Trail that goes from Monkswearmouth to Whitburn. Check out all the trail maps and information here: https://www.thisisdurham.com/northernsaints/about
Below is the River Wear, you can see Durham Castle peeking over the hill. This site was an important rest stop for people doing a pilgrimage even before the castle was built.
Starting at St. Peters Church in Sunderland, where lime quarries prospered due to being right next to river transport, we follow the coast up to Whitburn. This whole area was gifted to the Church in 674, when St Cuthbert was Bishop of Lindisfarne. Whitburn was part of the important center of European learning and culture that extended up the coast of Northumbria.
We go past Marsden Rock, a section of limestone that jutted out into the ocean. It has slowly been eroded over time, becoming a series of stacks, one of which was an arch tall enough for a sailboat to sail through until 1996 when winter storms brought it down.
We then enter South Shields, once a Roman Fort built to defend Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall was built in 128 to keep the northern tribes out of Roman-occupied Britain. It went from the west coast and ended following the River Tyne to the east coast. You can follow it today from coast to coast, this is a good site to start with: https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/roman-newcastle/ After the Romans left, the abandoned fort was then used as the royal palace of the Anglo-Saxons. Oswin, the son of King Osric of Deira, was born here. King Oswin gave land here to St. Hilda in 647 to build a monastery where the present-day church of St. Hilda is now.
We cross the Tyne River by ferry to North Shields. The word ‘shields’ comes from the word ‘sheels’ which were the huts of the fishermen who supplied the monasteries with fish.
And we are finally at Tynemouth Monastery.
Legend has it that King Oswine, killed in 651, was buried here. The monastery was built as penance for Oswine’s death by his brother-in-law and it became the focus of a popular pilgrimage to the resting place of St. Oswine.
[Wikipedia, parishmouse.co.uk, https://durhamheritagecoast.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/CoastalFootpathbooklet.pdf]
