St. Herbert's Island

St. Herbert's Island, sometimes called by its fictional counterpart, Owl Island, from Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, is one of four main islands of Derwentwater.  Located roughly in the middle of the lake, it makes for a great day's canoeing, exploring the 4–5 acres of woodland, shoreline, and soaking up the history associated with its long-ago resident, St. Herbert of Derwentwater. The island was also used as the backdrop for filming scenes from Arthur Ransome's class children's adventure novel, Swallows and Amazons. From the water, the island looks fairly densely populated with coniferous and deciduous broadleaf trees, especially during the summer months; a thick foliage of green blanketing the entirety of the island, with only a sliver of pebble coastline around its exterior. On land, however, the island’s woodland provides small pockets where the canopy allows for dappled sunlight to enter the leaf-strewn floor. The trees are mature, and looking up at these island giants, makes you wonder how this place would have looked during the occupation of Herbert the anchorite. Along with its much smaller neighbour, Rampsholme Island, named after the raven (Old Norse Hrafn) or wild garlic (Old English hramsa), both islands are densely populated with coniferous and deciduous trees.

His hermitage would have been a simple affair. But the passage of 1300 years since his arrival bears the realisation that finding any trace of his original monk's cell is unlikely. That said, the island does contain remains, but these are likely to be those of a 14th century chapel, built primarily as a site of pilgrimage to remember the saint. In life, and after his death on 20 March 687, his followers would sail from Friar's Crag to the island on pilgrimage. He was, after all, a bit of a celebrity round these parts, even if that was never his intention. The National Trust Heritage Records Online states:

The ruins now in the middle of St. Herbert's Island are most probably those of the chapel built there in 1374, when the site of St Herbert's hermitage became the object of a yearly parish pilgrimage (Lees, T. 1885). The actual site of the chapel is not clear, although what appears as a likely building platform occupies an area of around 5m by 8m, some edged stone work which has survived also suggests that a building or chapel once existed here. The discovery of a 'fishing lodge' highlighted on the 1867 1st edition Ordnance Survey map in a similar position to the building platform recorded during the survey has made interpretation a little more difficult. The fishing lodge has not appeared in any descriptions, and does not feature even as a ruin or earthwork on later maps. The actual building might have been of rude construction and relatively short-lived. It is possible that the remains on St Herbert's Isle could relate to the nineteenth century fishing lodge, and the building platform and stone edging a remnant from this building. However, it is equally likely that the platform was a product of a much earlier construction such as the pilgrimage chapel, and the fishing lodge merely re-used the built-up ground as a good flat spot.

There is more to this site than one might have originally thought. Searching these records shows that the island contains multiple remains from different time periods, from post-medieval onwards. Across the island there are remains of walls, a possible revetment (retaining wall), and a whole host of jetties. To the untrained eye, these look nothing more than an assortment of stones and rubble, yet these are protected as a World Heritage Site, and therefore, hold significance. Which is why it is important the island is treated with respect. The National Trust allows landing and picnics on the island, but to ensure the delicate ecosystem is protected, they do not allow camping, fires or BBQs. People still camp here. There are videos on YouTube of them doing so. Treading carefully and leaving no trace is the best policy to ensure the island can still be visited by future generations.

Learning of the geography of the island lends to learning about it’s history. It is widely known that the island long ago once supported the hermit priest, Herbert. Here, in this beautiful location surrounded by the fells of Borrowdale, Above Derwent, Underskiddaw, and Keswick lies a history of Herbert of Derwentwater.

Herbert of Derwentwater

Herbert was an Anglo-Saxon priest who brought Christianity to the valley in 685 CE, deciding that his purpose was to stay on the island, and live out a life of a hermit in prayer, and, of course, solitude. So, it is hardly surprising there is little known of Herbert of Derwentwater, especially through his desire to retire from the world and to disappear into obscurity. 

Various antiquarian sources mention Herbert through his connection with St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, "to whom he was long united by the ties of religious friendship; and all the records which remain of his life are contained in the Histories of that Saint." His early history is unknown. Had it not been for the records of St. Cuthbert, the name St. Herbert and his simple tale of solitudinous piety, may not have survived through the annals of time. Yet, how Herbert came to live the life he did can be realised through his friendship with the Bishop. It is entirely possible they had previously known each other, insofar as Herbert may have come under Cuthbert's authority at Lindisfarne. This would have placed them in a unique position to converse on a regular basis. But records of him there are absent.

Although both men shared a common spirituality, they were dissimilar in nature. Where the Bishop was "an eminent preacher in his day, whose eloquence influenced the will of many, and whose active zeal contributed to the advancement of the then dominant church, of which he was one of the main pillars and rulers. St. Herbert was altogether a man of prayer. He retired from this world to this solitude, and passed his days in devotion." Indeed, Cuthbert was an influential figure, and this may have been the spark of a spiritual friendship, which through the passage of time, was mutually respected. With Herbert's devotion to his counsel, it is not far from the realm of possibility that Herbert withdrew to his island cell under his friend's advice, and there he remained living the life he wanted.  

Newman's 1844 text discusses the importance of the decision to live an eremitical life. It cannot be something taken lightly "without a special divine inspiration, calling a man to it; and then it is not simply allowable, but a duty."Newman 1844, p.40.</ref> To enter such a life as Herbert did, takes a special preparatory discipline of self-control, and an understanding of the "severe hardihood in bearing with privations, humility, submission, and affectionate forgetfulness of self. That such a training had been gone through by St. Herbert, seems implied in his retirement being the consequence of advice from St. Cuthbert, whose own life had been one of so much active exertion for the good of others; and in the humility and affectionate submission which appear so strongly to have marked his character." Cuthbert himself had been living a contemplative and austere life shortly after his retirement in 676, placing him in good stead to prepare Herbert for such a life, and the commitment to that life he would have to endure as an anchorite.

Living as a hermit would have been a tough life, especially by today's standards. A small cell with virtually no comforts, and only the clothes on your back is a stern commitment to the cause. To get an understanding of this, we should first take a look at the country in which he retired. In part it was occupied by the native Cymry, the Brythonic-speaking Celtic tribes of Britons (Cymru is the Celtic name of the modern Latinised Cumbria). They retained their own client-kings, who were subject to the Anglo-Saxons. Cumbric was the Celtic tongue, foreign in language and habits to the Anglian’s. There would have been some form of bilingual culture between the peoples, due to Anglian expansion of the lower-lying lands around its mountainous core. Under the rule of the Northumbrians, Carlisle still retained it Roman civitas status, the social body of the citizens united by law. It provided a frontier against the Picts or Caledonians, but it’s social rule had not found kindred spirits in the Celtic people, or their way of life. They were fundamentally different peoples, governed in different ways, with socially different traditions. This was the world in which Herbert, a natural enemy of the local population, would have found himself in.

Every year, the two saints would meet for a spiritual communion, where Herbert would seek guidance from his friend, and "inebriate each other with draughts of heavenly life....and holy converse" Bede’s recording of the subject puts the meeting at the Roman settlement of Lugubalia, which is actually Luguvalium (Carlisle). Cuthbert, who had come out of retirement himself, had been consecrated at York as the Bishop of Lindisfarne in March 685. Their last meeting probably took place in the latter part of 686, and it was at this occasion that Herbert’s history is consolidated. Bede provides some dialogue between the holy men, which furnishes a possible scenario as to how this momentous congress might have taken place. Translations of various texts differ slightly depending on source, but the general meaning is the same. Bede writes thus:

There was a certain priest, called Herebert, a man of holy life, who had long been united with the man of God, Cuthbert, in the bonds of spiritual friendship. This man leading a solitary life in the island of that great lake from which the river Derwent flows at its beginning, was wont to visit him every year, and to receive from him the teaching of everlasting salvation. Hearing that Bishop Cuthbert was come to the city of Lugubalia, he went thither to him, according to his custom, seeking to be more and more inflamed in heavenly desires through his wholesome admonitions. Whilst they alternately entertained one another with draughts of the celestial life, the bishop, among other things, said, "Brother Herebert, remember at this time to ask me and speak to me concerning all whereof you have need to ask and speak; for, when we part, we shall never again see one another with bodily eyesight in this world. For I know of a surety that the time of my departure is at hand, and that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle." Hearing these words, Herebert fell down at his feet, with tears and lamentations, and said, "I beseech you, by the Lord, not to forsake me; but to remember your most faithful companion, and entreat the mercy of God that, as we have served Him together upon earth, so we may depart together to behold His grace in Heaven. For you know that I have always endeavoured to live according to the words of your lips, and likewise whatsoever faults I have committed, either through ignorance or frailty, I have instantly sought to amend according to the judgement of your will.” The bishop applied himself to prayer, and having presently had intimation in the spirit that he had obtained what he asked of the Lord, he said, “Rise, brother, and do not weep, but rejoice greatly because the mercy of Heaven has granted what we desired."

The event established the truth of this promise and prophecy, for after their parting, they never again saw one another in the flesh; but their spirits quitting their bodies on one and the same day, to wit, the 20th of March,759 were immediately united in fellowship in the blessed vision, and together translated to the heavenly kingdom by the ministry of angels. But Herebert was first wasted by a long-continued infirmity, through the dispensation of the Lord's mercy, as may be believed, to the end that if he was in any wise inferior in merit to the blessed Cuthbert, that which was lacking might be supplied by the chastening pain of a long sickness, that being thus made equal in grace to his intercessor, as he departed out of the body at one and the same time with him, so he might be accounted worthy to be received into the like abode of eternal bliss.

Cuthbert's foretelling of his last breath on earth makes for a sobering tale. His words gave tearful woe to Herbert, who wished not to be separated from his friend, physically or spiritually. Cuthbert’s petitioning to God, allowing them both to leave their mortal bodies at the same moment, provides comfort to Herbert by way of their reunion in heaven. Cuthbert knew his time was coming to an end, suffering from a painful illness. Along with Herbert's long-term ailments, this had probably been a precursor to his final few weeks or months. As Bede mentions, they never saw each other again in body, and to the very day, Wednesday 20 March, 687, even the exact hour, they had mutually passed from a mortal life and, received in everlasting bliss into the kingdom of Heaven.

After seven centuries, Herbert had been all but forgotten. The world in which he lived had changed considerably. The once tribal nations had been united under the banner of England, and their Brittonic language had evolved greatly via Old English (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes), Old Norse (Scandinavian), and finally, Norman French influences in what had become the mixing-pot of Middle English. In 1374, Thomas de Appleby, the Bishop of Carlisle, had issued a mandate for the yearly commemoration of St. Herbert. This event was achieved after the Bishop had read Bede’s narrative of Herbert, wishing to celebrate in mass on the anniversary of their death with the “indulgence of forty days in devotion and honour of St. Cuthbert, and remembrance of Herbert.”

It is a testament to Cuthbert, Bede and Thomas de Appleby that Herbert of Derwentwater, who wanted to withdraw from public notice, is remembered to this day. His scant history offers the present-day reader the merest scintilla of knowledge; that of a virtuous man of faith, recorded through the annals of times, and known to us only because of a stout devotion to his friend, and to his God. The following lines come from Wordsworth’s pen, of our hermit saint, Herbert of Derwentwater:

If thou in the dear love of some one Friend Hast been so happy that thou know'st what thoughts Will sometimes in the happiness of love Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence This quiet spot; and, Stranger! not unmoved Wilt thou behold this shapeless heap of stones, The desolate ruins of St. Herbert's Cell. Here stood his threshold; here was spread the roof That sheltered him, a self-secluded Man, After long exercise in social cares And offices humane, intent to adore The Deity, with undistracted mind, And meditate on everlasting things, In utter solitude.--But he had left A Fellow-labourer, whom the good Man loved As his own soul. And, when with eye upraised To heaven he knelt before the crucifix, While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore Pealed to his orisons, and when he paced Along the beach of this small isle and thought Of his Companion, he would pray that both (Now that their earthly duties were fulfilled) Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain So prayed he:--as our chronicles report, Though here the Hermit numbered his last day Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved Friend, Those holy Men both died in the same hour.

External links

• Stones, St. Herbert's Island
• Wall, St. Herbert's Island
• Landing, St. Herbert's Island
• Pathway, St. Herbert's Island
• Jetty, St. Herbert's Island

The other three are Lord's Island, Rampsholme Island, and Derwent Island. All of these islands are owned by the national Trust, 

Sources

• Armistead, Wilson (1891). Tales and Legends of the English Lakes. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.
• Farmer, David Hugh (2011). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th ed.). Oxford: University Press.
• Newman, J.H. (1844). Lives of the English Saints- Hermit Saints. London: James Toovey.

If you spot any errors, or would like to include some additional information, please feel free to jump in and improve this article's content where needed.