Superimposition of the point cloud of St Pauls in Jarrow obtained from 3D terrestrial laser scanning on the plans of the excavations published by Professor Rosemary Cramp.

The information conveyed by the local Museum in Jarrow and by the archaeological excavations at St Paul go much beyond the time of Bede. They provide unique insights into the long-term formation of Jarrow’s community, its relationship with the landscape, and its place in history over the centuries up to the present days

The written and epigraphic sources, artefacts and buildings that have been documented by archaeologists and historians in Jarrow speak of a monastery founded in the 7th century CE on a royal territory which was probably already populated and being used for its farming and agricultural resources. The monastery became immediately an important hotspot within the early medieval panorama of overseas trade and literature. Its foundation was entangled to new political strategies of land management that seem to have allowed the concession of royal estates in perpetuity for the establishment of monastic communities.

While the monastery’s churches were transformed and its cloisters were built during the Middle Ages, the rich resources of this territory were already perceived as coveted targets of economic interests. Exports from the Tyne River were subjected to a monopoly held by Newcastle Corporation since the 12th century, and this seems to have limited the development and expansion of settlements like the 12th to 15th century one that was excavated in the area of the current Museum in Jarrow.

Virtual Museum | Jarrow and its Museum | The excavations at St Pauls and the new local Museum | The monastery and the medieval landscape | Jarrow and the Industrial Revolution | Modern Jarrow | Jarrow in the first half of the 20th century | Jarrow across the 20th century | Jarrow in the late 20th century | The new local Museum and Gyrwe’s farm

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