Jarrow (pronounced "Jarra" by some of the local populace) is a town on the River Tyne, England with a population around 27,000 (2001 Census). It is part of the South Tyneside district of Tyne and Wear.
There was a Roman fort on the site in the 1st century, and it was also occupied by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. The town derives its name from its Anglo-Saxon name "Gyrwe" (pronounced Yeerweh), which means marsh or fen.
The Monastery of St. Paul in Jarrow was once the home of the Venerable Bede, whose most notable works include The Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the translation of the Gospel of John into Old English. At the time of its foundation, it was reputed to have been the only centre of learning in Europe north of Rome. In 794 Jarrow became the second target in England of the Vikings, who had plundered Lindisfarne in 793. The Monastery was later dissolved by Henry VIII. The ruins of the Monastery are now associated with and in partly built into the present-day church of St. Paul which stands on the site. One wall of the church contains the oldest stained-glass window in the world, dating from about AD 600. Not far from the Monastery is "Bedes World", a working museum dedicated to the life and times of Bede.