ST. PAUL CHURCH (RUNNYMEDE)

EUROPE'S OLDEST BOOK:

St Cuthbert's gospel which survived pillaging Vikings and lay in his coffin for centuries is sold for £9m.

• The seventh century St Cuthbert Gospel is on show at the London library
• Book is a copy of the Gospel of St John
• It was buried alongside St Cuthbert, an early English Christian leader, on the island of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland in around AD698
• Coffin was moved off island to escape Viking raiders and taken to Durham
• Book was found when the coffin was opened at Durham Cathedral in 1104
• Its original red leather binding survives today
• Now bought by the British Library for £9million.

The earliest surviving intact European book, which lay buried in a saint's coffin for hundreds of years, has been bought by the British Library for £9million.

The seventh century St Cuthbert Gospel is on show at the library in King's Cross, north London.

It was purchased and saved for the nation after a multimillion-pound fundraising effort.

Dame Lynne Brindley, the British Library's chief executive, said: 'This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure the Gospel for the nation and we were both grateful and touched that so many people felt moved to support our campaign.'

The book was produced in the north of England in the late seventh century and buried alongside St Cuthbert, an early English Christian leader, on the island of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland in around AD698.

The coffin was moved off the island to escape Viking raiders and taken to Durham, where the book, which is a copy of the Gospel of St John, was found when the coffin was opened at the cathedral in 1104. Its original red leather binding survives today.

The single largest contribution to the campaign was a £4.5million grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund but there were also donations from charitable trusts and the public.

Dame Lynne said: 'To look at this small and intensely beautiful treasure from the Anglo-Saxon period is to see it exactly as those who created it in the seventh century would have seen it.

'The exquisite binding, the pages, even the sewing structure survive intact, offering us a direct connection with our forebears 1,300 years ago.

'Its importance in the history of the book and its association with one of Britain’s foremost saints make it unique, so I am delighted to announce the successful acquisition of the St Cuthbert Gospel by the British Library.

'This precious item will remain in public hands so that present and future generations can learn from it.'

The book will also go on show in Durham next year.

The Very Rev Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham, said: 'It is the best possible news to know that the Cuthbert Gospel has been saved for the nation. For the people of Durham and north-east England, this is a most treasured book. Buried with Cuthbert and retrieved from his coffin, it held a place of great honour in Durham Cathedral Priory.'


St Cuthbert was born circa 634 in Northumbria and is regarded as one of the most important medieval saints in England.

He was inspired to become a monk, and later a bishop, after spotting a vision in the night sky while working as a shepherd in 651.

St Aidan, the founder of Lindisfarne, died that same night - Cuthbert immediately vowed to follow a monastic path.

He was a monk at Melrose Abbey between 651 to 664, after which he became prior at Lindisfarne until 676.

In 684, he became bishop of Lindisfarne but resigned in late 686 as he thought he was on the verge of dying.

He was buried at Lindisfarne Prior in 687 before his coffin was moved to Durham Cathedral to escape Viking raiders.