Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition Attracts over 50,000 Visitors to the Laing Art Gallery

More than 55,000 visits were made to the Laing Art Gallery during the 11-week run of The Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition, and three times more people visited the show compared to recent exhibitions. 

In total there were 56,663 visits to the gallery and 23% of visitors were first-timers to the Laing Art Gallery, suggesting that as well as loyal visitors, the exhibition attracted a new audience. 

The exhibition, which ran from 17 September to 3 December 2022, celebrated the most spectacular surviving manuscript from early medieval Britain and featured a new work by Turner-Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller, who has also acted as an artistic advisor for the show. 

This was the first time the venerated book, on loan from the British Library, has been on display in Newcastle since 2000. The exhibition explored the meaning of the Lindisfarne Gospels in a 21st century context, and explored its relationship with themes of personal, regional, and national identity.  

Alongside the Laing exhibition, a supporting schools programme was launched to provide primary and secondary school students a greater understanding of the Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript; covering Anglo Saxons, art and heritage, and local history. The schools programme generated over 25,000 engagements. This included in-school assemblies, creative projects, as well as visits to The Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition, Newcastle City Library, Great North Museum: Hancock, and Newcastle Cathedral. Over 550 school workshops were provided across the region from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Tees Valley. 

The exhibition generated over 1500 community engagements via artist-led workshops held in libraries and community settings across the region. The programme inspired two displays responding to the Lindisfarne Gospels. These are our Treasures curated in partnership with artist Ruth Ewan, on display at the Laing Art Gallery until February 2023 and an exhibition at Newcastle City Library Sharing Stories though the Ages, featuring the work inspired by communities curated by artist and designer Emma Tominey. Community groups were also invited to participate in creative artist-led workshops exploring the themes of the Lindisfarne Gospels.   

A year-long series of cultural events inspired by the display of the Lindisfarne Gospels in towns and cities across the region is now drawing to a close. It got underway in January 2022 and most events took place during the run of the Laing exhibition including the Illuminated Sheep, a visual arts trail which lit up Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. From Hartlepool to Hexham, Berwick-upon-Tweed to Bishop Auckland, multiple venues and locations invited visitors to explore, experience and enjoy a wealth of events, all drawing inspiration from different aspects of the 1300-year-old manuscript.  

Julie Milne, Chief Curator of Art Galleries, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said: “The response to the exhibition has been fantastic and it has been wonderful to have the Laing buzzing with visitors and activity. I’m particularly proud of the community programme we delivered in partnership with Newcastle Library and Ruth Ewan and the schools’ programme for children and young people. It was always an ambition of the programme that we give as many people of all ages and backgrounds as possible the opportunity to interact with this rare, precious artefact, which is such an important part of our region’s history and heritage. We’re very grateful for the support from the British Library to host the Lindisfarne Gospels and to all our funders and partners – it was wonderful to exhibit it in the North East where it was created 1300 years ago.”  

The Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition opened with an immersive digital experience and included a stunning selection of early medieval treasures brought together from across Britain, representing both personal and collective religious experiences in the 8th century. At the heart of the exhibition, the Lindisfarne Gospels was shown alongside other illuminated manuscripts, including another significant loan from the British Library - St Cuthbert Gospel, the oldest intact European book. A selection of paintings, drawings and photographs further explored how art and spirituality have developed in the centuries since the Lindisfarne Gospels were created.   

A highlight of the exhibition was a new film commission by Jeremy Deller, The Deliverers, which featured young people from the North East and explored the journey of the Lindisfarne Gospels from London to Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Dr Xerxes Mazda, Head of Collections and Curation at the British Library, said: "We are delighted to have worked on this successful exhibition with the Laing Art Gallery. As part of the year-long programme of cultural events inspired by the Gospels, we have also had the opportunity to collaborate with other partners in the region, including Newcastle City Library’s exhibition “Libraries and the Lindisfarne Gospels: Sharing stories through the ages”, featuring special loans from the British Library. The Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the most internationally significant manuscripts in our care, and we’re thrilled that it has attracted new audiences in the North East of England."  

The Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition was sponsored by Ad Gefrin Visitor Experience and Distillery, which will open in Wooler in spring 2023 and bring to life the hidden history of the 7th Century Anglo Saxon royal summer palace of the Northumbrian Kings and Queens discovered at Yeavering only four miles away – one of the 20th century’s most remarkable archaeological finds.   

Dr Chris Ferguson, Director of Experience at Ad Gefrin, commented, “It has been a privilege to be the headline sponsor of The Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at the Laing and to partner Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums in highlighting the extraordinary cultural heritage of the North East. The Lindisfarne Gospels are a lasting legacy of the creativity and artworks from a time when North Northumberland was at the centre of European Culture. A period that the Ad Gefrin Anglo-Saxon Museum will bring to life through the lives of those that populated it, in a permanent celebration of Northumbria’s Golden Age and the royal palace of Yeavering.” 

Elected Metro Mayor for the North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll, said: "I'm so pleased we could support this extraordinary exhibition. Thank you to all those involved. Looking upon this magnificent manuscript, I felt moved by its beauty, the stories radiating off it. This artefact recalls a time when we were the spiritual, philosophical, and intellectual powerhouse of Britain. I was proud to see it come home, to the North East." 

The Laing Art Gallery is also grateful for support from The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Barbour Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Headley Trust and sponsors, Fergusons, Tyne and Wear Metro, and the Royal Grammar School Newcastle (RGS).