Walk: Greensheen Hill & St Cuthbert’s Cave – Kyloe hillgrimage

Kyloe Hills, Northumberland
★★★★

Few visitors to Northumberland can resist making the pilgrimage to the tidal island of Lindisfarne – a key centre for Christianity since the 6th century. The island monastery’s most famous prior (and later bishop) was St Cuthbert, who was responsible for overseeing much of the transition from Celtic to Roman doctrine at Lindisfarne, and throughout the wider Northumbrian Kingdom. A century after his death in 687 AD, his coffin and relics had to be swiftly removed from the monastery after it came under attack by Vikings, and it’s believed that they were hidden in a cave in the craggy Kyloe Hills for a while, before being moved further south. St Cuthbert’s Cave – as the site is now known – turns out to be a pretty impressive place; the cave is shallow but wide, comprised of enormous sandstone blocks which appear as a gaping mouth on the side of Greensheen Hill. After visiting the cave, tracks lead to the nearby summit for a superb panorama encompassing the Cheviot Hills to the west and the North Sea to the east, fittingly including Lindisfarne itself.

Chronological photo guide

Location

Start / finish at Holburn Grange, minor road end 4 mi east of Doddington

O.S. Grid Reference: NU 051351

GPS coordinates: 55.609727,-1.920568

No public transport within 1 mi

Car park

Key info

5 km / 3 mi | ▲ 130 m | 1.5 hr

Features: St Cuthbert’s Cave ★★★; △ Greensheen Hill (205 m); Holburn Lake

⬤ Moderate | Grassy tracks and paths throughout, sometimes fairly rough or narrow.

Anticlockwise circuit: start – St Cuthbert’s Cave – Greensheen Hill – Holburn Lake – Moor End – start

Download file for GPS

On our last visit

Wildlife: Sheep and lambs, seagulls on Holburn Lake, yellowhammers, possible lapwings.

Weather: Sunny overhead but with heavy showers looming to the west. Extremely windy with temperature in mid teens.

July 2020

St Cuthbert’s Cave ★★★