The Story of Eardulph

Our Story starts over eleven hundred years ago in the year 875 AD. At that time the country was split into many kingdoms, the largest of which was Northumbria. However a large part of this kingdom was occupied by the Danes who had conquered and settled the area from just below Darlington to the Humber and bounded on the east by the North Sea. The whole of the kingdom of Northumbria was an area bounded on the South by a line drawn from the Humber to the Mersey and on the North from the Clyde to the Forth, on the West by the Irish Sea and on the East by the North Sea.

In the year 875, the Danes arrived in large numbers on the mouth of the Tyne and sacked and destroyed the monasteries at Tynemouth, Jarrow and Monkwearmouth. They then sailed up the Tyne and plundered and burned the monastery at Mokchester. This the Saxon name for Newcastle upon Tyne. The monks at Lindisfarne received word of what had happened and knowing that their turn would come, as it had on previous occasions when the monks together with their wives and children had been massacred, decided they should leave and seek refuge in a safer place.

For many years Cuthbert had been the prior and eventually Bishop of Lindisfarne and in 687 aged 51 he had a premonition that his death was near and requested that his body be taken elsewhere if there was any disturbance on the island. The monks placed his coffin on a cart with other relics which included the bones of Saint Aiden, the head of Saint Oswald and an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels. Then together with their belongings and valuables, their wives and children (for monks were allowed to marry at that time), and led by their Bishop, the pilgrims began their wanderings, which would take them throughout the northern parts of the country., including Scotland and the present counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. At one point they even tried to sail to Ireland but were driven back by a severe storm and were shipwrecked. Fortunately they were able to reach land safely and the following day found most of their relics and valuables washed up on the shore. The monks travelled South, all the time evading the marauding bands of Danes, until eventually arriving at a tiny settlement in Yorkshire called Crayke. The settlement had been given to Cuthbert when he was alive, in later years becoming the possession of the Durham Monastery. Whilst there the monks became involved in the negotiation for the payment of ransom for the release of the Danish Prince Guthred.

The monks then travelled north to a small settlement, whaich had at one time been a Roman camp, a gathering had been called of the Danish army together with all the nobles and men of importance in the area. Guthred was presented to them by the Bishop. The assembly proclaimed Guthred as their King and he was declared King of Northumbria. He then appointed the last Bishop of Lindisfarne to become the first Bishop of Northumbria and instructed to build his church and settlement at Cuneceastre, the modern name of which is Chester-le-Street. The name of this bishop was Eardulph.

After eight years of wandering the monks and their families now had a place to settle and in 883 AD. having completed the building of the church, the bishop's chair was placed inside. The bishops chair is called a Cathedra and thus the building which houses it is called a Cathedral. Thus Chester-le-Street became the first cathedral town of Northumbria and Eardulph the first bishop of Chester-le-Street and Northumbria.

He was the first of nine bishops of Chester-le-Street and he died in 900 AD. The last bishop was Aldune. In 995 under threat of more raids, it was decided that the body of Saint Cuthbert should be moved to Ripon for safety. It remained there for four years until the danger was passed and was then moved North once more. Legend informs us that when the cart bearing the body of Cuthbert reached a place called Dunholme (now the City of Durham), it was impossible to move it any further. The monks took this as a sign that Cuthbert wished to remain there and they built a Cathedral, in which the remains of Saint Cuthbert remain till this day.

Guthred the King of Northumbria gave the church many grants of land between the Tyne and Wear rivers. Later extending these grants to the Tees thus forming the nucleus of the present diocese and the County of Durham. Later King Alfred confirmed these grants and since the church at Chester-le-Street is of Royal foundation, the choir exercies the right to wear red cassocks. Alfred also gave the right of 37 days sanctuary to the church as it is presumed that he was 37 years old at the time. Even though the area of the diocese covered only the lands between the Tyne and the Tees rivers the Bishopric encompassed the land from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde to the North and the Tees to the South, The North Sea to the East and the Irish Sea to the West. This vast geographical area was governed from Chester-le-Street for around 112 years.

During this time the Lindisfarne Gospels were at Chester-le-Street, the priest (later Bishop Aldred) added the Saxon gloss or translation. The book consists of 258 leaves of vellum and contains the four Gospels, beautifully written in Latin and ornamented with a variety of patterns and designs totally free from any errors, all richly bound in gold and jewels. The book is now in the British Library in London and was written at around 700 AD by Bishop Eadfrid, the goldsmith being a hermit called Bilfrid. The colours and condition of the book are as brilliant as if they were painted yesterday.

There are many different spellings of Eardulph to be found in the manuscripts of the time noteably "Earfdulf, Eardwulf etc." but we use the one which has been the most commonly used.