4. Clayport Library and St. Cuthbert’s monument

The library is an important symbol of education, access to all at the point of delivery. It is a well loved community resource, a place of learning and focus of the local community.   The library reminds us of the importance of education in prison for offenders and the role of the prison library.

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We know from research that literacy levels in prison are poor and of the importance of reading in prison – from organisations such as the Reader Organisation and projects like RISE (reading in secure environments), are of utmost importance. http://www.thereader.org.uk/ 

The Skills funding agency supports education in prison and people are offered vocational training and employment in prison. The Longford Trust offers scholarships to ex-offenders to attend University. http://www.longfordtrust.org/ Lord Longford inspired the Newbridge foundation befriending project[8] and he befriended lots of prisoners in his lifetime, including Moors Murderer Myra Hindley.  He died in 2001.This is all incredibly important for rehabilitation and helping those imprisoned move forward with their lives.

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Many ex -offenders write and speak eloquently about the role of education in prison and of the importance that one person, a librarian, education worker, writer in residence, a book, can make in triggering a love of reading and education and reform.   Examples include Guardian columnist Erwin James, academic and PhD student David Honeywell- reformed offender, part-time criminology lecturer Leeds Beckett University and visiting lecturer, PhD candidate at York; and Frankie Owens who wrote “The Little Book of Prison A Beginners Guide – the book that helps first time offenders and the families left behind as well as everyone in and around the sector” 

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www.thelittlebookofprisonabeginnersguidevol1.wordpress.com/ and www.insidetime.org/articleview.asp?a=1875&c=koestler_awards_2014

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Durham University’s Inside/Out programme aims to facilitate learning for criminology students alongside Durham prisoners-for many prisoners this will be a lifeline and a route to a different future and for students a real insight into the impact and experience of prison.

Knowledge and learning is often associated in the North East with St Bede and St Cuthbert-Northern Saints. Bede can be described as England’s first academic: he wrote the first history of the English people, An Ecclesiastical History of the English People in 731. Bede was a great thinker and a prolific writer on many subjects – debating, writing and citing other people. “It has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write.”

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A linguist and translator he also wrote about St Cuthbert and the miracles he was said to perform and visions he had. A monk and eventually Bishop of Lindisfarne, Cuthbert died aged 55 years in 687. After eleven years his bones were raised and it was found that his body was entirely intact; and pilgrims were healed by visiting him. ”The creation of a medieval cult was underway”.

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The sculpture by Fenwick Lawson outside the library shows the 9th century monks carrying the coffin/body and relics of St Cuthbert including the Lindisfarne Gospels as they flee from invading Vikings in 875. See St Cuthbert’s final journey to find out more about the journey they took and the return of the Gospels to Durham. stcuthbertsfinaljourney.com/about/

The British Library paid a huge sum for St Cuthbert’s Gospel. “Europe’s oldest book: St Cuthbert’s gospel which survived pillaging Vikings and lay in his coffin for centuries is sold for £9m.”

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[8] “Befriending people in prison can improve their chances of re-entering society successfully” http://www.newbridgefoundation.org.uk/

Download the map.


 

The above photo, “IMG_0591.jpg” is copyright (c) 2009 Tomasz Dunn and made available under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license.