This is the timeline of Hexham Abbey from 674 AD to the present day.
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Queen Ethelreda gifted the land to Bishop Wilfrid in 674 AD. Unfortunately the Vikings came looking for treasure and looted it in 874 AD.
2/15
In 1113 AD the Normans came and established a monastery for the Black Canons. In 1296 the Scots came over the border and tried to burn it down.
3/15
In 1536 Henry VIII destroyed the monastery and only left the church. It was rebuilt and extended in 1908 by Canon Savage.
4/15
We went down some stairs to the crypt. this is where the monks used to come and pray in the original Abbey building built by Wilfrid.
5/15
There was an altar down there, and a model of a golden box where the monks used to keep a precious relic. It was the finger of St James.
6/15
We went upstairs to where the monks used to sleep and we got dressed up in black habits, like the Black Canons in the 12th Century.
7/15
The monks used to come down the Night stair three times a night to pray before they could finally go to sleep.
8/15
They came down to pray and chant in the choir. They were not allowed to sit down, but the older monks were allowed to perch on the Misericordes.
9/15
One of the jobs the monks did was to copy scriptures onto vellum using a quill pen and ink made of oak nuts. The vellum was cured using urine!
10/15
We were allowed to climb down into the apse under the choir floor to see the remains of the outside walls of Bishop Wilfrid's original church.
11/15
Zoe showed us some stonemasons tools and told us how they carved special symbols into the walls to show which bits were theirs so they were paid
12/15
We didn't have time to carve some stone because it takes ages, but she gave us some clay to try and make some designs of our own.
13/15
We really enjoyed working with the clay!
14/15
We finished by looking at the bishop's chair that was made for Bishop Wilfrid. You could claim sanctuary from being put in prison for 40 days.
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