Ancient gospels to 'return home'

The Gospels were written in honour of St Cuthbert

The North East's most famous book is due to return home this week.

A hi-tech copy of the illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels will arrive on Holy Island, 1300 years after the original version left the island.

The Lindisfarne Gospels were put together by Bishop Eadfrith of Lindisfarne in around 715 AD.

The complex and lavishly decorated text is widely recognised as the pinnacle of Anglo Saxon cultural achievement.

The text is now held at the British Library after surviving attacks by invading Vikings and many other adventures in its history.

A long campaign to bring the book back to the North East on a permanent basis has so far failed to convince its curators.

But after a painstaking three year project, a laser copy of the book will be available at the Community Heritage Centre on Holy Island.

A second copy will be kept at the Treasury at Durham Cathedral.