On a steep, rocky outcrop at the mouth of the River Tyne the gaunt remains of Tynemouth Priory look out to the open sea, whilst being protected by the confines of the castle defences. This headland was the site of a much earlier Anglian monastery, destroyed by the Danish invasions of the 9th century, but when the Earl of Northumberland re-founded the religious house here in 1085 it was with a colony of Benedictine monks from St Albans.