Starting in Gateshead, we continue heading inland, going west along the River Tyne. We cross the River Team where it enters into the Tyne and come to the River Derwent where it enters the River Tyne (below).
Image: Anthony Foster, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6477419 , no changes |
We follow the River Derwent south to Ebchester. Walking
along Derwent Walk Country Park trails, we go through the ancient woodlands,
meadows, wetlands and riversides of Derwenthaugh Pays Park.
Image: Alan Fearon, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/71747 no changes |
We then walk along the Derwent Walk Railway Path where we cross over many ‘burns’ (creeks).
Image:Dennis Lovett, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5311253 no changes |
Finally reaching Ebchester which was once a Roman fort, built where Dere Street (the roman road from York to
Hadiran’s Wall) crossed the River Derwent. You can see Dere Street in the photo
below, heading up the far hillside after passing through Ebchester.
Image: Dennis Lovett, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3871697 |
St. Ebba was the sister of King Oswald and King Oswy. At the same time that the new King Oswald sent for St. Aidan from the Iona Monastery, Ebba joined her brother at Bamburgh. Five years after St. Aidan arrived, Ebba took the veil (became a nun) at Lindisfarne in 640, the same year Hartlepool Abbey was founded.
Image: Early British Kingdoms, https://orthochristian.com/133791.html |
Image: https://www.u3ahadrianswall.co.uk/wordpress/forts-south-of-the-wall/ebchester-roman-fort-vindomora/ |
The current St. Ebba’s Church in Ebchester has a foundation built in the early 1000’s and was built re-using the stone from the roman fort. It’s communion table is an ancient altar slab inscribed with 3 crosses and the font is made from a roman altar. It is located in the southern corner of the fort and is thought to be the site of Ebba’s nunnery. Before St. Hilda became abbess of Hartlepool in 649, Ebba had already moved on to found a double monastery at St. Abb’s. After Ebba left, and as it was so isolated, many hermits came to live there and by the 1100’s the area was known as ‘the place of the anchorites’. You can see the church tower and Ebchester below:
Image: http://www.ebchester.org/gallery/ebchester-today/ |
[wikipedia, orthochristian.com, ebchester.org, ukga.org]
This week we will be starting to track the kilometers of our walk for two groups of people:
- Those who are keeping
track of their steps and kilometers
- Walking Groups.
Week 2: Hartlepool Abbey to Tynemouth
Monastery = 40 km.
Week 3: Tynemouth Monastery to Utta Abbey
= 22 km.
All km's are as the crow flies, not taking into account having to walk upstream to river crossings and around the dene's (ravines).
Look at the amount of walking they would have had to do in the 7th century, taking days to get somewhere we can drive in an hour!