Such rich history here. We went to check it out after the beach nearby. Glad we did. The gift shop was cute and gave us samples of mead before buying a bottle. The kids thought it was interesting to see the ruins and we all loved the view. Highly recommended. read more

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There were three kings buried here: Osred II, Oswine and Malcolm of Scotland. It was a cold, damp, dank day and our second grim day in a row. We had never before visited this part of England and it was as dismal as a place could be. A thick fog enveloped the whole place blotting out almost all sunlight. The sun was a disc in the sky with no power. The fog horns on the Tyne blew their warnings - it seemed constant. If 3 witches had gathered at this 1300 year old ancient site for double, double, toil and trouble they wouldn't be out of place. The climate hasn't much changed in the last 1000 years as church authorities even sent naughty monks here from St Alban's in southern England. A letter survives from the 13th century: 'Our house is confined to the top of a high cliff ... day and night the waves break and roar and undermine the cliff. Thick sea frets roll in, wrapping everything in gloom. Dim eyes, hoarse voices, sore throats are the consequence.' The note could have been written yesterday. I can only give a snapshot of the huge history here. The first monastery existed in the 8th century as Bede wrote of Heribald, an abbot of Tynemouth who died in 745, and it was sufficiently established in 792 when Osred II, King of Northumbria, was buried in its church. In the 11th century, a story emerged that the monastery was founded in the 7th century, when Oswine, a Northumbrian king, was buried there. Oswine was murdered by a rival, Oswiu, who afterwards established a monastery at Tynemouth in penance, which became a focus for Oswine as a saint. In the 9th century the monastery was flourishing. It became a target for raids in 800, 832, 865, 870, and one in 875 that finally destroyed it. Although no buildings survive from the monastery, fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses have been discovered on or close to the headland and archaeologists have found traces of five rectangular timber buildings which may have been part of it. It was rebuilt and began to flourish again for a few 100 years but in January 1539 the priory fell victim to the nationwide Dissolution of the Monasteries. All the priory lands and possessions were surrendered to the king, St Oswine's shrine was destroyed and monastic life at Tynemouth came to an end. Thereafter it became a military base used for civil and world wars right up to 1956. read more

Originally walked past this and thought it looked cute. Then a visiting friend wanted to go, and since it is right at the end of the high street we figured why not, we'd squeeze it in between the Tynemouth Market and getting lunch. Turns out it's bigger on the inside! First of all the views are spectacular, worth it alone. We spent easily an hour just wandering the priory ruins, the little cemetery, and trying to get a photo through one of the WWII gun barrels. The various uses it has been put to over the years have left behind gun emplacements, a small Victorian building that houses the toilets, and a disused 80's quasi-brutalist building that we can hope they incorporate some day - would make a nice restaurant if you ask me. A English Heritage site, so decent gift shop at the entrance with their usual selection of souveniers, gin, mead, and so on. read more

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We had such a great day out visiting the priory! What truly made such an amazing difference in our trip was the amazing staff members working there who were so friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the castle and actually convinced us to purchase the guidebook, which actually made the whole experience even better because we were able to follow along and learn a lot about the history. The castle also gives a beautiful view of the coast and the city with lots of shops and food places located all around. read more

Tynemouth Priory & Castle - Castles Near Me - North Shields, XTW

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