Ankers House Museum

About the museum

Anker’s House is a small two-storey building at the foot of the tower of St Mary and St Cuthbert’s church, beside the west door. It was created in the later fourteenth century by closing off the westernmost bay of the north aisle, and it was home to a series of anchorites, religious hermits who were walled in for life, between about 1380 and 1547. Food was passed in through a small window, and an angled opening, the squint, allowed the occupant to follow Mass in the side chapel. An extension was added in the mid-sixteenth century.

The former anchorage became a museum in 1986. Its displays explain the conditions in which an anchorite lived, include a model of the living quarters and show Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval objects found at the church and in its surroundings.

The church itself was the seat of the community of St Cuthbert from AD 883 to 995, and a facsimile of the Lindisfarne Gospels, which were given an Old English translation in this period, is kept there.

Highlights

• Medieval anchorage attached to the church tower
• Model of an anchorite’s living quarters
• Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval finds from the church and its surroundings
• Facsimile of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the church

Founded

1986

Operated by

Parish of St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free according to the regional tourism listing.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

By car, leave the A1(M) and take the A167 into Chester-le-Street.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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