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Nunnery of Ebchester c.660 AD
Extract from: A History of the County of Durham: Volume 2, by William Page, London, 1907.
THE NUNNERY OF EBCHESTER
The nunnery at Ebchester was founded in or before the year 660 by St. Ebba. She was the daughter of Ethelfrid, king of Northumbria, and was dedicated as a virgin by Finan, formerly bishop of Lindisfarne. With the help of her brother, King Oswi, she built a monastery on the banks of the River Derwent in the bishopric of Durham, at the spot where the little village of Ebchester now stands.
Ebba did not remain long to preside over her nuns, but was called to be abbess of Coldingham, where she died in 683. The monastery, however, continued to flourish until the time of the Danish invasion, when it is said to have been utterly destroyed.
