Delicate talks begin over Gospels’ return

Mar 14 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A UNIVERSITY boss revealed yesterday that talks were under way with the British Library in London in an attempt to house the Lindisfarne Gospels in the North East.

Professor Chris Higgins, vice chancellor at Durham University, stressed that “delicate negotiations” were at an early stage and that any arrangement to display the Gospels on Palace Green opposite the cathedral would have to be subject to the agreement of their owners, the library.

A delegation led by MPs Sharon Hodgson, Kevan Jones and Roberta Blackman-Woods, and including Prof Higgins, urged culture secretary Andy Burnham to back plans to bring the Gospels “home” when the minister visited the North East last week.

Yesterday, Prof Higgins said: “The time for vociferous campaigning is now over. It is time to enter into serious talks with the British Library, and talks have already begun.

“I personally would like to see the Gospels return to the North East on a long-term loan, but it would have to be with the agreement of the British Library.”

The professor echoed the views expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, when he visited Durham earlier this year, and called for a branch of the British Library to be established in the North East to house the manuscripts, an illuminated Latin text of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John produced on Lindisfarne in Northumbria in the late 7th century or early 8th century.

He added: “Where in the North East the Gospels would be housed, should the British Library agree for them to come here, would have to be decided. But I do not see why everything should be centred on London. The Gospels would be a magnet to attract more visitors to the North East, and to stay longer here.

“The university has been removing books as part of a process of creating room in the library on the Palace Green to use as a centre for scholars and visitors, to house rare manuscripts and works of art. The Gospels would be a centrepiece in such a display.”

Campaigners who want the Gospels in the region see them as forming part of a “Christian hub” for visitors, which would also include Durham Cathedral, Lindisfarne itself, Bede’s World in Jarrow and St Cuthbert’s Church at Chester-le-Street.

The Northumbria Association is still cautiously awaiting the start of official talks, but is optimistic that the library’s previous “no further loans” position could be about to shift.

Association member John Danby said a recent visit to the region by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham was a step in the right direction.

He said: “It was a very positive meeting and people went away feeling heartened by what they heard.

“Gospel talks are a very complicated process, but hopefully we will see something firm soon.”

The campaigners face a tough task to persuade the British Library to allow the Gospels to move North. Last week, Sir Colin Lucas, chairman of the British Library Board, said: “The Lindisfarne Gospels are of fundamental importance to a heritage that reaches far beyond the region in which the manuscript was produced.

“Visitors and scholars come to the British Library to view and study it as one of an unparalleled collection of devotional manuscripts which form the foundation literature both of Christianity and other great religions. The British Library Board would be seriously derelict in its obligation to provide access to these manuscripts for people of all faiths and nationalities, if we allowed this collection to be broken up by removing one of its greatest treasures”.