Snapdragon; Hexham Abbey, Northumberland

Snapdragon or Antirrhinum is a garden plant which has long been established in the wild. It is not native being from the Mediterranean and SW Europe. It was first grown here in gardens during Elizabethan times. It has a striking flower which is usually in a rich pink colour although garden varieties can come in various shades, white, cream, yellow and all stations from pink through to purple. The flower is perhaps reminiscent of a dragon and it does snap shut with the upper and lower parts coming together quite strongly. The only pollinators that can force their way into the flower is the larger bumble bees. I remember as a small boy being fascinated by the bumble bees pushing their way into the flowers and then backing out covered in pollen, also along with many other children I would pull one of the flowers away from the flower head and then you could squeeze the sides and the mouth would open.

It is an annual or short-lived perennial herb and is widely naturalised on old walls, waysides, pavement cracks, waste ground and rubbish tips. Populations can be long-lived, and the species reproduces readily from seed. It is less common in the North and in Scotland so Hexham is towards its upper limit. It is usually found close to habitation. It is quite tolerant of dry conditions, it prefers a pH of 7 and is not that frost hardy, thus its preference for southern Britain.

Hexham Abbey was built between 674 and 678, and much of the stone came from the remains of Roman buildings in Corbridge which is three miles away. It was Queen Etheldreda who gave the land to Wilfrid Bishop of York in 673 or 4 and thus it is one of the earliest Christian sites in the UK. What you see today is not what was built back then, it was largely replaced in the 12th and 13th century between 1170 through to 1250. Subsequent additions have been made, but given that every phase of building has been done in the same light honey coloured stone, it helps give the whole building a unity of form.

What does remain of the original church is the crypt and there you can see many roman stones including one that has the names of three emperors engraved into it Septimus Severus ( 193 to 211AD ) and his sons Marcus Aurelius ( 198 to 217 AD) and Geta. The three ruled as a triumvirate after Severus appointed his sons as joint rulers in 198 but when Severus died in 211 then the two sons ruled together but not that harmoniously.

Today the Abbey is well worth a visit, located in the very centre of Hexham and it does have a pleasant court yard with surrounding gardens and an excellent tea room. I was visiting the area with Dr Colin Harwood and thanks have to go to him for the photographs. He obliged by taking the pictures as I had left my camera back at base. As you can see both pink and white varieties grow on the walls.