Cedd was the eldest of four brothers (including St Chad), born to a noble Northumbrian family early in the 7th Century. Like his brothers he was schooled at Lindisfarne Priory and in Ireland. All four subsequently became priests.
Cedd spent some time with a missionary team in Mercia (where his brother Chad would later serve as Bishop).

He then was sent south to Essex to continue his missionary work. There he baptised many and established a number of churches and the monasteries at Ythanchester (Bradwell-on-Sea) and Tilaburg (East Tilbury). In 655 he was ordained as Bishop of Essex.

In 658 Cedd was persuaded by King Aethelwald of Deira to establish a Royal Monastery at Laestingaeu (Lastingham in Yorkshire) and he served as its first Abbot, while continuing to minister in Essex as Bishop.

In the following years Cedd was active in resolving tensions within the Royal Family in Essex, and In 664 he took an active role in the Synod of Whitby called to address the difference between the Celtic and Roman traditions regarding, for example, the keeping of Easter. Following the successful conclusion of the Synod, Cedd took on the responsibility of introducing the Roman customs to the Church in Essex.
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Later the same year Cedd visited the Abbey at Lastingham. There he and his brother, Cynebil, fell victim to the plague, entrusting the Abbey Lastingham to the care of their youngest brother, Chad.

In the National Calendar for England the memorial of St Cedd is kept as a joint memorial with his brother, St Chad, on October 26th.

O God, who called your servants
the Bishops Saints Chad and Cedd 
from among the English who first turned to Christ your Son, 
and made them ministers of grace to their own people, 
grant, we pray, at their intercession,
that we may imitate them in a peaceful and humble spirit and a prayerful life, 
and so commend to others 
the faith which we ourselves profess. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
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• Places associated with St Cedd include the island of Lindisfarne (the Priory known by St Ceddhaving been replaced by a now ruined 12th C. Priory); Lastingham, ( part of the early monastic building may be retained in the remarkable crypt of the parish church); and the chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, all that remains of the monastery of Ythanchester (Bradwell-on-Sea) 

Photographs (c) 2026, Allen Morris

Window depicting St Cedd, Lastingham Abbey

Altar in the Crypt at Lastingham