Today, you can see a carving of the milkmaid and her dun


cow on the north wall of Durham Cathedral. This deeply impressive house of God was constructed in 1093 specifically to house St Cuthbert’s bones, and he was entombed here in 1144. Incredibly, even though this entombment occurred more than 400 years after his death, his remains were still completely intact. Miraculous tales about St Cuthbert’s tomb soon spread,


and his popularity grew huge, with pilgrims making their way to Durham from far and wide. The Venerable Bede, the scholar celebrated as the ‘Father of English History’, was also laid to rest in Durham Cathedral after his death in 735. His shrine became a second powerful draw, bringing the faithful to Durham. Today, the cathedral’s architecture is as much of a draw


as its fabled saints in centuries past. Almost 900 years on, this Romanesque masterpiece is one of the best- preserved examples of Norman architecture in England, and is celebrating its 25th year on UNESCO’s coveted World Heritage List. A pilgrimage to St Cuthbert’s famous tomb, though, must now be accompanied by a good dose of imagination, as the once-bejewelled shrine was plundered in the mid-16th century by Henry VIII, as part of his dissolution of the monasteries. These days you don’t need to rattle the huge bronze


lion-visaged knocker on the cathedral’s north door to be granted entrance, as medieval supplicants of sanctuary once did. The cathedral’s interior – a mystical landscape of tall


84 BRITAIN www.britain-magazine.com


PHOTO: DURHAM CATHEDRAL/BRITAIN ON VIEW/VISIT COUNTY DURHAM/GRAEME PEACOCK/VISIT BRITAIN


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