Monks eventually returned to Lindisfarne, which they re-named Holy Island, but its importance had been lost. The tiny castle is so heavily visited these days it seems in danger of subsiding under the weight of numbers. When sinking ships went out of fashion, the islanders took to aiding them. Sailors from Stockholm, Archangel, Timmernabben, Rafsoe, Stavanger, Nantes and Scheveningen once swelled the local population as visitors who arrive by car and coach do today. Though not in quite such numbers, thankfully.
Entrance is free.
After tomorrow, the gospels will return to the British Library in London where they will go back on display on February 1. The causeway to Lindisfarne is closed at high tide.