Saint Augustin was despatched by Pope Gregory to convert Britain to Roman Catholicism at the end of the Sixth Century, but to his surprise, he discovered that Christianity had already been established there for many years.

Ripon Cathedral is the site of one of England’s first Roman Christian stone churches, built by St Wilfrid in 672. Saint Cuthbert, of the nearby Celtic Monastery, opposed the Roman appropriation of the church, but eventually lost his case at the Synod of Whitby in 664.

Historians do not dispute that the Celtic Church predates the Roman Church, but due to efficacy of the Roman efforts to eradicate its predecessor, very little seems to be known about the original Celtic Christian teachings.

According to legend, it was Joseph of Arimathaea who originally brought Christianity to Britain and built the first church at Avalon.

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