No St Cuthbert flag or pipes for the Gospels - Library ban for campaigners

Date: 2000-03-16, Publication: The Journal

CAMPAIGNERS for the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels to the North have been barred from unfurling the flag of St Cuthbert over them.

A group which includes MP Fraser Kemp planned to mark St Cuthbert's Day next Monday by unfurling the flag of St Cuthbert's Cross over the priceless 7th Century manuscripts in the British Library in Euston Road, London.

They also wanted to play a Kathryn Tickell composition, The Return, on Northumbrian pipes.

Richard Berg-Rust, chairman of the Northumbrian Association, claimed he had been let down by Brian Lang, chief executive of the British Library, who refused the group permission to conduct the ceremony within the library.

He said: "What we had in mind was a gentle celebration of the Lindisfarne Gospels in its third millennium and a further assertion of our campaign to return them to their rightful place within Durham Cathedral.

"We didn't plan to cause a fuss, merely to be allowed a simple celebration in this special year, which was why we limited the numbers to 12. The ceremony would have lasted four minutes."

Mr Berg-Rust added: "I wrote to Mr Lang fully explaining our request and I wasn't granted the courtesy of a reply. When I telephoned him he cited security as the reason for refusing us permission.

"Does he really think a group of us including an MP and a schoolgirl, Melissa Nicholson, who will be celebrating her 13th birthday on St Cuthbert's Day, planned to hijack the Gospels?
"I feel he has badly let us down."

But a British Library spokesman insisted the visitors from the North-East would be welcome to celebrate St Cuthbert's Day in the piazza, but not in the main body of the library.

"The British Library is a working research library. The playing of Northumbrian pipes and the unfurling of the flag of the cross of St Cuthbert over the Gospels would create a disturbance to other users."

He also denied a claim by Mr Berg-Rust that the Gospels were creating scant interest in London, saying: "We have around 2,000 visitors every day."

The Gospels were written and illustrated at Lindisfarne Monastery in Northumberland in the late 7th Century, when Northumbria was at the centre of Christian culture in Britain.

They were seized from Durham Cathedral on orders of Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537.

The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Michael Turnbull, the Duke of Northumberland and Mr Kemp, Labour MP for Houghton and Washington East, are all supporters for their permanent return to the North-East.

Last night Mr Kemp said: "I am deeply saddened that the Northumbrian Association should be treated in such a way."

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