#coldingham

Archaeologists and citizen scientists have unearthed what may be the monastery of Princess Aebbe, who was born a pagan but later spread Christianity along the northeastern British coast during the seventh century.

Once the pagan-turned-Christian princess (A.D. 615-668) became an abbess, she established the monastery at Coldingham, a village in the southeast of Scotland. But the monastery was short-lived; Viking raiders destroyed it it in A.D. 870.

 On June 21st 1098 a Priory at Coldingham was founded.

Coldingham Priory was founded in 1098 by Edgar, King of Scots and son of Malcolm Canmore and St Margaret, in  "gratitude to Almighty God" for recovering his kingdom from Donald Bane, his uncle, who had usurped it as his father’s death.

The first monastic community consisted of thirty Benedictine monks from Durham, and the Priory remained a ‘cell’ of Durham down to 1590. Liberally endowed from the outset by Edgar, it received many further gifts and privileges from later Scottish kings and other pious donors, until it became one of the wealthiest religious houses in Scotland. As with other religious houses, its wealth came from land ownership which brought income from timber management and from the rearing of sheep that produced wool for export.

The original Church, built in Edgar’s time, was destroyed by King John of England in 1216, but was replaced by a greater and more magnificent church, which in turn was largely destroyed in 1545 during the great raid of the Earl of Hertford, which brought ruin also to the abbeys of Kelso, Dryburgh and Melrose.

The choir, however, though further damaged by forces of Oliver Cromwell in 1650, survives and constitutes the present Priory Church, although it was much changed in Victorian times, when it is assumed the freestanding arch was rebuilt.

Read the full history of the Priory here https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm…

Read the full history of the Priory 

Jewels Left From The Retreating Tide

Photographically, there’s something dynamic about shooting seascapes when the tide is coming in (and in Britain, the tide moves quickly). But equally, I enjoy seascapes when the tide is moving out, too. Pebbles and rocks are still saturated in moisture, producing often colourful results. Various types of seaweed are left behind, often in lined piles that follow the line of tide. Fascinating geological formations reveal themselves. Such was the case here, at Coldingham Bay, when looking for compositions involving the 8metre-high sea stack The Kip.

Coldingham Bay, Coldingham, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

Remnant of the Retreating Coast

At the 8-metres high (26ft), the Kip stands out amongst the fascinating geological formations of the Coldingham Bay coast. It’s interesting to visualise this sea stack as once being a part of the bay’s headland, and then trying to imagine how it would’ve eroded away to become isolated. I imagine there was once a sea arch here. Time is a wonder.

Coldingham Bay, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

The Blade of Coldingham

The Scottish Borders coast gave us some delights with the epic St. Abbs Head cliffs. So upon our circuit of the area again recently, we ventured south of St. Abbs to another beauty spot unknown to us: Coldingham Bay.

St. Abbs was very much all about crag and cliffs, but while Coldingham had its fair share of crag, it also featured a delightful sandy beach. Whilst Lisabet went paddling in the North Sea, I made to the northern head of the bay, my eyes locked on the 26ft-high sea stack simply known as The Kip. =)

Coldingham Bay, Coldingham, Scottish Borders, Scotland.