In 635 AD, Northumbria’s King Oswald invited Aidan from the monastic settlement on the Scottish island of Iona to found a monastery on Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast, thus bringing Christianity to the north of England.
Aidan’s death in 651 AD coincided with the vocation of local shepherd boy, Cuthbert, who joined the community and became Bishop of Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island.
200 years later, following a series of Viking raids on the island, the monks disinterred St Cuthbert’s body and carried it for seven years through northern England and southern Scotland, resting where they could, until they re-buried it at Chester-le-Street. In 995 AD, the body was again exhumed and transferred to its final resting place beneath Durham Cathedral.
This short, circular walk takes you to the cave via 205m-high Greensheen Hill.
Looking for more things to do in the area? Check out our guides to Robin Hood's Bay, Bamburgh Castle and Beadnell Bay.
Best walks in Northumberland
Explore wild coastlines, vast forests, romantic ruins and rolling hills with our pick of the best walks in Northumberland.
St Cuthbert’s Cave walk
3 miles/4.8 km | 2 hours | moderate| 122m ascent
1. Start
Follow the track north-east from the car park to a gate. Go through this and turn left onto the bridleway, which leads through two more gates to Holburn village.
2. Moor End
Turn right and continue on the broad two-wheel track to another gate. Go through this and follow the footpath uphill alongside a stone wall.
On reaching a gate in the wall, where the ground levels out, detour a few metres to the left to get a first view of Holburn Lake and Moss. This is a wetland of international significance under the terms of the Ramsar convention, attracting flocks of summer seabirds and wintering wildfowl. Also a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the surrounding peat contains many mosses and bog plants. The monks of Lindisfarne dug the peat for fuel.
3. Greensheen Hill
Go through the gate and follow the good track which curves gently uphill and along the spine of Greensheen Hill to a trig point. Despite the low altitude, the views from here are superb, extending across the coastal plains to Lindisfarne and Bamburgh to the east and the Cheviot Hills to the west.
4. St Cuthbert’s Cave
Continue along the ridge and down to the fenced edge of the conifer wood. Descend to a stile level with St Cuthbert’s Cave. If this is temporarily blocked because of forestry thinning, continue to the foot of the slope. Turn left through the gate, then left again to reach the spacious fell sandstone cave, which is believed to have been one of the refuges used by the monks carrying St Cuthbert’s coffin.
5. Holburn Grange
Go back to the gate and continue on the bridleway to the gate on the first part of the walk. Return along the footpath to the car park.
St Cuthbert’s Cave map
St Cuthbert's Cave walking route and map
Useful information
Starting point
Free National Trust car park at Holburn Grange (not signposted) at the end of a signed cul-de-sac. GR: NU 051351.
Terrain
Country footpaths/ bridleways and gentle, well defined hill tracks.
Map
OS Explorer 340
Eat/drink
The Barn at Beal. 7.5 miles, overlooking the causeway to Holy Island.
Stay
YHA Wooler, 8 miles. The White Swan, Lowick, 5 miles.
Cave access
Open access. No fee.
