Jarrow Hall museum is celebrating their 50 year anniversary in 2024, recognising the rich history of Jarrow and the achievements of the museum along the way.
As a way of celebrating the special anniversary, Jarrow Hall is sharing fascinating facts with the community, to inspire people to visit and discover what life was like for the Anglo-Saxons who once lived there.
Jarrow Hall is open to the public every Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Adult tickets are priced at £8.50, and children and concession tickets are priced at £5.50.
For more information and to view their full programme of events and activities, please visit the Jarrow Hall website.
Check out four fascinating facts from Jarrow Hall below.
1. Extraordinary Sage Bush Planted by Dame Rosemary Cramp
In the Herb Garden at Jarrow Hall there is a Sage bush which was planted by Dame Rosemary Cramp, who was the lead archaeologist on the dig at St Pauls. Just like Rosemary, this Sage bush has an extraordinary life force and has grown farlarger than a Sage plant would normally grow.
2. An archaeological archive here at Jarrow Hall documenting every inch of the monumental digs
In the Museum at Jarrow Hall we hold a large archive of material which records everything relating to the digs at the site of St. Paul’s Monastery. It is fascinating to leaf through the trench note books and see sketches and notes recorded at the point of discovery. Detailed plans of the many trenches that were dug shed light on the systematic and painfully thorough way that the team worked in order to make sure no information was lost to history.
3. There are over 400 pieces of Anglo-Saxon stained glass in the Museum Collection at Jarrow Hall.
The Museum at Jarrow Hall has one of the largest collections of Anglo-Saxon window glass in the country. Bishop Biscop travelled to France to find glaziers to fill the windows in the new monastery at St Paul’s. The glass in the Jarrow Hall Collection was made from recycled glass and pieces of new glass from Levant (Lebanon-Syria).
4. Library at Jarrow Wearmouth one of best north of the Alps
Bishop Benedict Biscop travelled across Europe acquiring manuscripts and sending them back to Jarrow-Wearmouth Monastery. The Library at St Paul’s was vast and gave Bede access to thinkers and historians from across the Continent. At the Scriptorium at St Paul’s Monastery, these manuscripts would be carefully copied by Monks. Their skill was so great that demand for their work was high.