Founded in 674 by Benedict Biscop, MonkwearmouthMonkwearmouth Dedicated to St Peter the monastery was founded by Benedict Biscop in 674, as a sister house of Jarrow, on land given to him by King Egfrith of Northumbria near the mouth of the River Wear (now in Co. Durham), after his return to England from Rome with Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury. Details of its foundation and activities are recorded by the Venerable Bede, most notably in his History of the Abbots, and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It was destroyed in c.867 and 1070; re-founded in 1074 and became a cell of the monastic cathedral of Durham in 1083 remaining so until 1536 and the Dissolution of the Monasteries is one of the most significant and important sites of ChristianChristian Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church to designate all members of the church. history in the north of England, and was a joint monasteryMonastery The house of a religious community with JarrowJarrow Dedicated to St Paul the monastery founded by Benedict Biscop in 684, as a sister house of Monkwearmouth, on land donated by king Egfrid of Northumbria by the River Tyne, after his return to England from Rome with Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury. Details of its foundation and activities are recorded by the Venerable Bede, most notably in his History of the Abbots, and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Bede died here in 735. The monastery was destroyed in c. 867 and again in 973; but may not have been deserted since in 1022 the bones of Bede were carried from Jarrow to Durham cathedral. Re-established in 1074, it ultimately became a cell of the monastic cathedral of Durham in 1083 and remained so until 1536 and the Dissolution of the Monasteries over the River Wear. The Venerable BedeBede, the Venerable (c.673-735) Anglo-Saxon historian and biblical scholar. Sent to study at the monastery of Wearmouth at seven; later transferred to Jarrow. Renowned in his lifetime for his learning, Bede wrote treatises on poetry, time and cosmography. Historical works include History of the Abbots, prose and verse versions of the Life of St Cuthbert and Ecclesiastical History of the English People. was a monkMonk Member of male religious community of the abbeyAbbey 1. Community of monks or nuns under the rule of an abbot or abbess. This is the higher grade of monastery, as opposed to the lower priory. 2. Building which they occupy. until his death in 735, and it is thanks to his Ecclesiastical HistoryEcclesiastical History Full title: Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The best known work of the Venerable Bede (c.673-735), a five-book account written in Latin which covers the period from the Roman invasion of Britain to 731CE. It was later translated into Old English of the English People that we know about how Christianity came to the north of England in the 7th century. Some of the walls of the current church of St Peter survive from the church that Bede would have known. Fragments of 8th century carved stone can be seen in the church, including an inscribed grave stone of Herebericht, a priest. The monastery was destroyed by Vikings in the 9th century but the church continued to be an important Christian site.
References: Taylor and Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, vol. 1, pp. 432-46.