This is a statue of St Cuthbert, who was the pre-eminent English saint for more than 500 years. Born in around 635 AD in Northumbria, Cuthbert’s life changed when he was 17 years old. Whilst looking after sheep on the hills, he saw a light descend to Earth and then return to the sky. The date was August 31st 651 AD, when Saint Aidan, who founded the monastery on Lindisfarne, died.
For the next 13 years Cuthbert was part of the Melrose monks. Age 30, he moved to Lindisfarne and ran the monastery. He then moved to a remote island, Inner Farne, and built a hermitage. Age 50, Church and King requested that he leave the hermitage and become a bishop. He reluctantly agreed and became an active, travelling bishop. Feeling the onset of death, he retired to his hermitage and died on March 20th 687 AD.