News

Tickets go on sale for Lindisfarne Gospels Durham

(20 March 2013)

Queuing for Lindisfarne Gospel tickets

Tickets for this summer’s unique and eagerly awaited Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition are now on sale.

One of the world’s greatest books and a remarkable landmark of human cultural achievement, the Lindisfarne Gospels, will go on display on 1 July 2013, in Durham University's Palace Green Library alongside some of Britain’s most significant and precious Anglo-Saxons artefacts and medieval manuscripts.

The on-sale date was marked with a preview showcase of some of the pieces which will form part of the three-month festival of events celebrating the exhibition, including the specially formed Lindisfarne Community Choir, a dance piece accompanied by Northumbrian music and a scene from the comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Durham by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood.

Lindisfarne Gospels Durham will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a selection of St Cuthbert’s treasures alongside the book that was written in his honour. Artefacts in the exhibition include gold pieces, Celtic silver and amber, and stone sculpture; they have been drawn from the British Library which is lending six items in all, and from national collections, Durham Cathedral and Durham University.

Housed in in Durham University’s new world-class facilities in Palace Green Library in the heart of Durham’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is the first time since the 16th century that the Anglo-Saxons treasures found in St Cuthbert’s coffin are to be displayed together with the Lindisfarne Gospels book. In addition to the Lindisfarne Gospels and St Cuthbert Gospel, they include:

• St Cuthbert’s jewelled cross
• St Cuthbert’s travelling altar
• Fragments of St Cuthbert’s robes
• St Cuthbert’s sapphire ring

There will be plenty of hands-on opportunities for visitors and families to discover how medieval manuscripts were created and to use the British Library’s Turning the Pages technology allowing them to turn all the pages of the Gospels virtually and explore the beauty and detail of the books close up with a touch screen terminal.

Dr Keith Bartlett, Programme Director, Lindisfarne Gospels Durham said: “The exhibition is the highlight of the regional cultural calendar and the hottest ticket in town. I am delighted in the buzz that has surrounded the release of tickets! The exhibition has also fired the imagination of event organisers, artists, performers and communities across the North East.”

The North East will celebrate the Lindisfarne Gospels with a three-month festival of events, workshops and activities inspired by the 1000 mile journey St Cuthbert’s body took en route from Holy Island to its final resting place in Durham Cathedral.

The festival will feature exhibitions and performances, concerts, pilgrimages, retreats, and activities for all the family from as far afield as Holy Island, York and Cumbria. The festival will include the world premiere of the comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Durham by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, a performance of the St Cuthbert Oratorio by north-east-born composer, Will Todd; a writer in residency with Richard Walker Hardwick who will explore the journey taken by the monks as they fled Lindisfarne; a dance commission by internationally acclaimed choreographer, Vivienne Wood; and performances by the 1,000-strong specially-formed Lindisfarne Gospels Community Choir.

The exhibition will be open to the public from Monday 1 July 2013 until Monday 30 September 2013.

For tickets and more information, please go to www.lindisfarnegospels.com

• Video report of the ticket launch