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Paper Chase - Somerset Photo Paper - part 6 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

by Mike McNamee Published

When we last reviewed a Somerset product we made the point that the St Cuthberts Mill has a superb marketing advantage from its name. Our aim at Professional Imagemaker is to develop well-rounded and educated photographers, so for our readers (and in particular those from overseas) here is a potted history of the venerable saint.

Cuthbert was the Bishop of Lindisfarne and his embalmed body was held on the island by the monks. In the face of the invading Danes in 875, the monks fled the island, taking Cuthbert's remains with them. For seven years they wandered around Cumberland, Galloway and Northumberland. On their travels, the monks had the Lindisfarne Gospels with them, at one stage managing to lose them over the side of a boat into the Irish sea off Whithern. They survived that with only minor stains. The famous gospels, held in London (to the annoyance of the scholars at Durham), were compiled by the monk, Eadfrith, in honour of Cuthbert.

The magnificent cathedral at Durham was built in built in 995 to hold the relics of St Cuthbert. Cuthbert's, still perfectly preserved, body was laid to rest there in 1104. The perfect preservation of the body was considered miraculous and increased the veneration of the saint.

The cathedral itself has something of a media history, right through to the present day. In 1137, a tightrope walker, brought in to entertain the monks by walking across a rope stretched across a courtyard, fell to his death. Harry Potter was filmed in the Theologian's Library at Durham - indeed the steps in the film are the same ones as those used by Miss McNamee during her studies at Durham (which is why your editor is so up to speed on the place!). The cathedral itself became Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a computer-generated spire on top of the tower. The stone table just outside the main door was used as Aslan's table in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and was used as a tripod for the image of family McNamee and students shown below.

So there you have it! Our short history lesson is complete, and now you know why St Cuthbert's Mill, in the cathedral city of Wells, is such an iconic name for matters to do with reproduction, art and manuscripts.

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