St. Aidan (1958)
Sculptor: Kathleen Parbury
Location: St. Mary's Churchyard, Holy Island. Materials: Red Concrete on an Undressed Stone Base.
A roughly modelled figure of the bald headed saint in monk's garb with a torch in his raised left hand and a bronze crook in the right. The shaft of a Celtic cross supports the figures back. The Iona-trained monk and bishop, St. Aidan was invited by King Oswald of Northumbria to convert his subjects to Christianity, and founded the monastic community at Lindisfarne in AD 635. He was closely associated with the royal court at Bamburgh and was credited with saving the (then) city from fire and seige with his prayers. He was also a friend of the needy. The Venerable Bede says that he never travelled by horse and used the gifts he received from the rich and powerful to ransom the enslaved and aid the poor.
The Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition has an interactive touchscreen version of the book called 'Turning the Pages' and is on permanent display at the Lindisfarne Heritage Centre on Holy Island.
