House & Family History: Situated on the highest point of Holy Island, Lindisfarne Castle was built in 1550 using stone from Lindisfarne Priory, which had been dissolved in 1536 by Henry VIII. (The famous "Lindisfarne Gospels," an illuminated manuscript gospel book produced circa 700 AD in Lindisfarne Priory, is now on display in the British Library in London. The manuscript is one of the finest works in the unique style of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art, combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic elements.) Lindisfarne Castle was designed primarily to defend the harbor from attack in an age when the border between England and Scotland was fraught with frequent violent clashes. In 1901 Edward Hudson (the founder of "Country Life" magazine) bought and restored the Castle, using his protégé, Edwin Lutyens, as the architect for the restoration and conversion of the Castle into a private residence. Lutyens's interior designs in the Arts & Crafts style were complemented by his long-time collaborator Gertrude Jekyll's designs for the Walled Garden. Lutyens famously used upturned disused boats (herring busses) as sheds on the property, which the Spanish architect Enric Miralles said inspired him in his design of the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. Lindisfarne Castle was gifted to the National Trust in 1944 by Sir Edward de Stein, who lived there until his death in 1970, after which the Castle was opened to the public.

Garden & Outbuildings: Gertrude Jekyll designed the Walled Garden between 1906 and 1912.

House Listed: Grade I

Park Listed: Grade II

Past Seat / Home of: Edward Hudson, 1901-21. Oswald Falk, 1921-29. Sir Edward de Stein, 1929-44.

Current Ownership Type: The National Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction

House Open to Public: Yes

Phone: 01289-389-244

Fax: 01289-389-909

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Historic Houses Member: No