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Five miles east of Newcastle on the south side of the river, JARROW has been ingrained on the national consciousness since the 1936 Jarrrow Crusade , a march to London by unemployed protesters which became the most potent image of the hardships of 1930s Britain. However, the town made a mark rather earlier, as the seventh-century St Paul's church and monastery was one of the region's early cradles of Christianity. The first Saxon church was built in 681 by monks from St Peter's at Monkwearmouth, and its monastic buildings soon attracted a reputation for scholastic learning. It was here that the Venerable Bede (673-735) came to live as a boy, growing to become one of Europe's greatest scholars and England's first historian - his History of the English Church and People , describing the struggles of the island's early Christians, was completed at Jarrow in 731. Access to the tranquil stone church of St Paul's and the adjacent ruins of the monastery buildings (Mon-Sat 10am-4.30pm, Sun 2.30-4.30pm) is free, although they stand within the wider development that is Bede's World (April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm, Sun noon-5.30pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 10am-4.30pm, Sun noon-4.30pm; guided tours Sun 2.30pm; GBP4.50; ), which provides a fascinating exploration of early medieval Northumbria. The elegant multi-media museum traces the development of Northumbria and England through the use of extracts from Bede's writings, set alongside archeological finds and vivid re-creations of monastic life. After this you can take a turn through " Gyrwe ", the eleven-acre demonstration farm which features reconstructed timber buildings from the early Christian period, as well as demonstrating contemporary agricultural methods. Bede's World is at Church Bank, a signposted fifteen-minute walk from Bede Metrostation ; alternatively, buses #526 or #527 from Neville Street (Central Station) in Newcastle or Jarrow Metro station stop in front of the church. Beyond Jarrow lies SOUTH SHIELDS , the small but distinctive town which guards the south side of the entrance to the Tyne. The main point of interest here is Arbeia Roman Fort (Easter-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm, Sun 1-5pm; Oct-Easter Mon-Sat 10am-4pm; free), ten minutes' walk north of the town centre and Metro station off River Drive. Built in 120-160 AD as a supply depot for Hadrian's Wall, the fort encloses substantial granaries where you can usually watch archeologists and stonemasons at work, and a museum that's largely unexceptional apart from the most complete Roman ring-mail shirt found in Britain. Fine views of the site and across towards the sister fort of Segedunum can be had from the stone reconstruction of the huge west gate, and from 2002 you'll be able to poke around the commanding officer's house, with richly decorated living rooms off a central courtyard, and the dark, cramped barracks next door, all rebuilt using authentic Roman materials and construction methods. If you have kids in tow, be sure to take them into Time Quest (Mon-Fri 10am-3pm during school terms, 11am-4pm in the holidays; Easter-Oct also Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; GBP1.50, children 80p), where they can have a go at being archeologists, digging for finds in a gravel pit, doing Roman weaving and making mosaics.
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