St Cuthbert's Cave - MASARNEN RAMBLERS

St Cuthbert's Cave - Tuesday 18 October 2016

Route

Holburn Grange - St Cuthbert's Cave - Swinhoe Farm - Swinhoe Lake - Virgin Hill - Fawcet Hill - Greensheen Hill - East Holburn - Holburn Grange

Parking

Holburn Grange Car Park (Free) - Grid Ref NU 051351 (Nearest Postcode is TD15 2UL). There is room for quite a few cars if sensibly parked.

Mileage

7.6 miles

Terrain

Farm tracks & moorland paths

Weather

Overcast with strong breezes

Time Taken

3hrs 30mins

Total Ascent

1404ft (428m)

Map

OS Explorer 340 - Holy Island & Bamburgh

Walkers

Dave, Angie & Fudge

GPX File

gpx st_cuthberts_cave.gpx

If the above GPX file fails to download or presents itself as an XML file once downloaded then please feel free to contact me and I will send you the GPX file via e-mail.

Route Map

The walk today started from the St Cuthbert's Cave Car Park at Holburn Grange

Looking back towards the farm buildings at Holburn Grange. The entrance to the Car Park is on the right.

A grassy farm track heads north east from the Car Park. Greensheen Hill is directly ahead and this would form part of our return route.

At the top of the grassy farm track a gated stile is reached - the sign is self explanatory.
Fudge bless him stands in the middle of a manky puddle and waits patiently for his manservant to open the gate for him.

From the gated stile the route heads south east towards St Cuthbert's Cave Wood

The Cheviots in the distance

St Cuthbert (634 to 687AD) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose & Lindisfarne in what might loosely be termed the Kingdom of Northumbria. Following his death he became the most important medieval Saint of Northern England, with a cult centred on his tomb at Durham Cathedral. Cuthbert is regarded as the patron saint of Northumbria.

The route heads along the western edge of St Cuthbert's Cave Wood where in a few yards an obvious path leads up to the cave.
We were now on the official route of The St Cuthbert's Way.

Looking back down to the western edge of the wood from near the cave

Our first view of St Cuthbert's Cave, an overhanging edge of Sandstone rock supported by an isolated pillar of stone

St Cuthbert's Cave

St Cuthbert died on March 20th 687AD on Inner Farne which is the westernmost of the Farne Islands. His body was brought back and buried on Lindisfarne but it is fair to say that was not the end of the story with regard to his internment. The monks of Lindisfarne waited 11 years for the celebration of "Elevation" to Cuthbert's sainthood and on opening his coffin found not a skeleton but a perfectly preserved and 'uncorrupted' body. This proved to the monks that St Cuthbert had every right to be proclaimed a Saint. However in 793 the Vikings attacked and the monks lived under their rule until 875 when, with the monastery abandoned they fled with St Cuthbert's body as well as other relics & treasures to the mainland. It was whilst making the journey that the monks are thought to have rested in the cave. The final resting place of St Cuthbert's body is at Durham Cathedral.

The solitary piece of stone supporting the overhanging Sandstone of St Cuthbert's Cave.
The cave was featured during an episode of "Vera" starring Brenda Blethyn (Tuesday’s Child, Series 6, episode 2)

Don't sneeze or shake Fudge!

A panorama of St Cuthbert's Cave

From the cave we made our way back to the western edge of St Cuthbert's Cave to rejoin The St Cuthbert's Way but only for a quarter of a mile.
This 62.5 mile walk links Melrose in the Scottish Borders, where St. Cuthbert started his religious life in 650AD, with Holy Island (Lindisfarne) off the Northumberland Coast, his eventual resting place until 875AD.