Wearmouth-Jarrow World Heritage Site Bid Deferral

Tuesday 17 Nov 09

The World Heritage Site bid for the twin Anglo-Saxon monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, originally scheduled for submission in February 2010, will now be submitted in February 2011.

The decision to defer is backed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who work with candidate sites on the nomination process. Wearmouth-Jarrow has been a candidate World Heritage Site since 2006 and the Partnership has been working towards the production of a nomination document and management plan to be submitted to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) by the UK Government.

Rt Rev Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow and chair of the Wearmouth-Jarrow Partnership said;
“In recent months we have been overwhelmed with the support of people from the region and further afield, and we now have time to further improve our submission documents, which will give Wearmouth-Jarrow the best possible chance for a successful inscription.
These documents reflect the commitment of the Partnership in protecting and preserving the site and set out why it is internationally important. In a year’s time we will also have completed more of the scheduled work, funded by One North East, which will make the site even more attractive to visitors.”

The site will now be the UK’s nomination for World Heritage Site Status in 2011.
Extensive public consultation took place between April and June 2009 where people were given the opportunity to have their say on the site and its future. 8194 responses were received with 96% of people supporting the nomination and the proposals to protect and preserve the site for future generations to enjoy.

“Every pledge and signature of support which the public have made still counts and we are still gathering this vital support”, continued Bishop Mark.
“There is no question that local people are fully supportive of the bid and during the last year this has grown further with letters and signatures of support received by a range of high profile people including MPs Gordon Brown, David Cameron, David Miliband, Nick Clegg and Barbara Follett, HRH Duke of Gloucester, David Dimbleby, Niall Quinn and Steve Cram.”

Wearmouth-Jarrow, which centres on St Peter’s Church in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland and St Paul’s Church in Jarrow, was a major international centre of learning and culture in the 7th and 8th centuries. Parts of the 7th century buildings still stand on both sites and it was home of Bede, who was one of the most influential figures in contemporary culture.

Bishop Mark added; “Wearmouth-Jarrow is a unique site and has a very strong case for World Heritage Site status. The Partnership is committed to achieving this goal with support of the partner venues and the people of the North East.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all supporters and partners of Wearmouth-Jarrow for their continued support and commitment to this project that will hopefully see a site of huge historical significance receive the recognition it deserves nationally and internationally.”