Scientists used hazel charcoal to carbon date the hut After his death Iona became a place of pilgrimage for kings and commoners. 60,000 of the latter still visit the rebuilt abbey every year.

Some Christians feel that the benefits of the pilgrimage, like those felt at Iona, can be felt at home when praying.

St Columba inhabited the lonely rock of Iona, amidst wild Hebridean seas ... remarkable buildings runs St Peter’s Way – a 40-mile pilgrimage route across the length of Essex.