Everything about Northumberland totally explained
» For other places with this name, see Northumberland (disambiguation)
Northumberland is a
county in the
North East of
England. The
non-metropolitan county of Northumberland borders
Cumbria to the west,
County Durham to the south and
Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the
Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty
miles of
North Sea coastline. Since 1974 the county council has been located in
Morpeth, situated in the east of the county; however, both Morpeth and
Alnwick claim the title
county town.
As the kingdom of
Northumbria under King
Edwin, the region's historical boundaries stretched from the
Humber in the south to the
Forth in the north. The historic boundaries of the county cover a different area, including
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the traditional
county town, as well as
Tynemouth and other settlements in
North Tyneside, areas administered by
Tyne and Wear since 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972. The historic boundaries of the county are sometimes taken to exclude
Islandshire,
Bedlingtonshire and
Norhamshire (collectively North Durham), exclaves of County Durham which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844.
Being on
the border of
Scotland and
England, Northumberland has been the site of many battles. The county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland, a favourite with landscape painters, and now largely protected as a
National Park.
Northumberland's
county flower is the Bloody
Cranesbill (
Geranium sanguineum) and her affiliated Royal Navy ship is her namesake,
HMS Northumberland.
History
Once part of the
Roman Empire and the scene of many wars between
England and
Scotland, Northumberland has a long and violent history. There are more castles there than anywhere else in England, including those at
Alnwick,
Bamburgh,
Dunstanburgh and
Warkworth.
The region of present-day Northumberland once formed the core of the
Anglian kingdom of
Bernicia, which was later united with
Deira south of the
Tees to form
Northumbria. Northumberland is often called the "cradle of
Christianity" in
England, because it was on
Lindisfarne, a tidal island north of
Bamburgh, also called
Holy Island, that Christianity flourished when monks from
Iona were sent to convert the
English.
Lindisfarne was the home of the
Lindisfarne Gospels and
Saint Cuthbert, who is buried in
Durham Cathedral.
Bamburgh is the historic capital of Northumberland, the "royal" castle from before the unification of England under one monarch. The capital of Northumberland now, however, may be
Morpeth, since Northumberland County Council's offices are in that town or perhaps the market town of
Alnwick, mainly because the
Duke of Northumberland has his home there.
The lords of Northumberland once wielded inordinate power in
English affairs because, as the Lords of the Marches, they were entrusted with protecting England from
Scottish invasion.
Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the
Rising of the North in
Tudor times. These revolts were usually led by the then
Dukes of Northumberland, the Percy family.
Shakespeare makes one of the Percys, the dashing
Harry Hotspur, the real hero of his
Henry IV, Part 1.
The county was also a centre for
Roman Catholicism in
England, as well as of
Jacobite feelings after the Restoration. Northumberland became a sort of wild county, where outlaws and
border reivers hid from the law. However, the frequent cross-border skirmishes and accompanying local lawlessness largely subsided after the union of the crowns of Scotland and England under
King James VI and I.
Northumberland played a key role in the
industrial revolution.
Coal mines were once widespread in Northumberland, with collieries at
Ashington,
Ellington and
Pegswood The region's coalfields fuelled industrial expansion in other areas of the country, and the need to transport the coal from the collieries to the Tyne led to the development of the first railways.
Ship-building and
armaments manufacture were other important industries.
Today, Northumberland is still largely rural. As the least populated county in England, it commands much less power in
British affairs than in times past. In recent years the county has had considerable growth in tourism due to its scenic beauty and the abundant evidence of its historical significance.
Physical geography
The physical geography of Northumberland is diverse. It is low and flat near the
North Sea coast and increasingly mountainous toward the northwest. The
Cheviot Hills, in the northwest of the county, consist mainly of
resistant Devonian granite and
andesite lava. A second area of
igneous rock underlies
Whin Sill (on which Hadrian's Wall runs), an intrusion of
carboniferous Dolerite. Both ridges support a rather bare
moorland landscape. Either side of Whin Sill the county lies on carboniferous
limestone, giving some areas of
karst landscape. Lying off the coast of Northumberland are the
Farne Islands, another Dolerite outcrop, famous for their bird life.
There are
coal fields in the southeast corner of the county, extending along the coastal region north of the river Tyne. The term 'sea coal' likely originated from chunks of coal, found washed up on beaches, that wave action had broken from coastal outcroppings.
Being in the far north of England, above 55°
latitude, and having many areas of high land, Northumberland is one of the coldest areas of the country. It has an average annual temperature of 7.1 to 9.3 °C, with the coldest temperatures inland. However, the county lies on the east coast, and has relatively low rainfall, between 466 and 1060
mm annually, mostly falling in the west on the high land. Between 1971 and 2000 the county averaged 1321 to 1390 hours of sunshine per year.
Approximately a quarter of the county is protected as the
Northumberland National Park, an area of outstanding landscape that has largely been protected from development and
agriculture. The park stretches south from the
Scottish border and includes
Hadrian's Wall. Most of the park is over 800
feet (240
metres) above sea level. The
Northumberland Coast is also a designated
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Ecology
There are a variety of notable habitats and species in Northumberland including:
Chillingham Cattle herd;
Holy Island;
Farne Islands; and
Staple Island.
Economy and industry
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Northumberland at current basic prices
published
(pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
2,585 |
130 |
943 |
1,512 |
| 2000 |
2,773 |
108 |
831 |
1,833 |
| 2003 |
3,470 |
109 |
868 |
2,494 |
Northumberland has a relatively weak economy amongst the counties and other local government areas of the
United Kingdom. The county is ranked sixth lowest amongst these 63 council areas. In 2003 23% of males and 60% of females were earning less than the
Council of Europe's decency threshold. As of May 2005 unemployment is at 2.3%, in line with the national average. Between 1999 and 2003 businesses in the county grew 4.4% to 8,225, making 0.45% of registered businesses in the UK.
A major source of employment and income in the county is
tourism. The county annually receives 1.1 million UK visitors and 50,000 foreign tourists who spend a total of
£162million in the county..
Education
Northumberland has a completely comprehensive education system with 15 state schools and one independent school. Similar to
Bedfordshire, it embraced the comprehensive ideal with the
three tier system of lower/middle/upper schools with large school year sizes (often around 300). This eliminates choice of school in most areas - as instead of having two secondary schools in one town, one school becomes a middle school and another becomes an upper school; in individual towns everyone will go to the same school.
Cramlington Community High School has almost 400 pupils in each school year; making it one of the largest schools in England. There is only one school for the whole of the Berwick-upon-Tweed district.
Blyth Community College also situated in Northumberland, able to hold 1500 students throughout the building.
Demographics
At the
Census 2001 Northumberland registered a
population of 307,190, estimated to be 309,237 in 2003. In 2001 there were 130,780 households, 10% which were all retired, and one third were rented. Northumberland has a very low ethnic minority population at 0.985% of the population, compared to 9.1% for England as a whole. 81% of the population reported their religion as
Christianity, 0.8% as another religion, and 12% as having no religion..
Politics
shire counties Northumberland has had a
two-tier system of
local government. At present (2008) it still has a
county council based in
Morpeth and also has six districts, each with their own district council. These districts are,
Blyth Valley,
Wansbeck,
Castle Morpeth,
Tynedale,
Alnwick and
Berwick-upon-Tweed. The county and district councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.
However, the
Department for Communities and Local Government have passed plans to reorganise Northumberland's administrative structure. Two proposals were looked at - one to abolish all of the districts to create a Northumberland
unitary authority; and one to create two separate unitary authorities, South East Northumberland (the area now covered by Blyth Valley and Wansbeck), and Rural Northumberland (the area now covered by the other four districts). The proposal for a countywide unitary authority was approved in July 2007. The changes are planned to be implemented no later than
1 April 2009 as part of the
2009 structural changes to local government in England.
Elections for the new unitary authority council took place on 1 May 2008.
Northumberland is represented in the
House of Commons by four
Members of Parliament, of whom one is a
Conservative, one is a
Liberal Democrat and two are
Labour.
Culture
Northumberland has traditions not found elsewhere in
England, reflecting a mix of indigenous,
Anglian,
Celtic and
Norse influences. These include the
rapper sword dance, the
Clog dance and the
Northumbrian smallpipe, a sweet chamber instrument, quite unlike the Scottish bagpipe. Northumberland also has its own
kilt and
tartan, sometimes referred to in
Scotland as the Shepherd’s Tartan. Traditional
Northumberland music sounds similar to
Scottish music, reflecting the strong historical links between Northumbria and
Scotland.
The Border ballads of the region have been famous since late mediaeval times.
Thomas Percy, whose celebrated
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry appeared in 1765, states that most of the minstrels who sang the Border ballads in London and elsewhere in the 15th and 16th centuries belonged to the North. The activities of
Sir Walter Scott and others in the 19th century gave the ballads an even wider popularity.
William Morris considered them to be the greatest poems in the language, while
Algernon Swinburne knew virtually all of them by heart.
One of the best-known is the stirring
Chevy Chase, which tells of the Earl of Northumberland's vow to hunt for three days across the Border 'maugre the doughty Douglas'. Of it, the Elizabethan courtier, soldier and poet
Sir Philip Sidney famously said: 'I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet'.
Ben Jonson said that he'd give all his works to have written Chevy Chase.
Overall the culture of Northumberland, as with the north east of England in general, has much in common with
Scottish Lowland culture than each has with the rest of their respective countries. There are two factors that suggest this. First: the clear pattern of net southward migration. There are more Scots in England than English people north of the border. Much of this movement is cross-county rather than distant migration, and the incomers bring their culture with them, for example Scottish country dancing.
Secondly, the fading attraction of Newcastle as the regional centre: North Northumberland is 40 - 55 miles distant from Newcastle but on the doorstep of Berwick (England) with its own attached Scottish county Berwickshire. From here the Scots capital Edinburgh, is as easily reached as Newcastle.
The linguistic links between the two include many
Old English words, such as
bairn for child. For further information, see
Scots language and
Geordie. Attempts to raise the level of awareness of Northumberland culture have also started, with the formation of a Northumbrian Language Society to preserve the unique dialects (
Pitmatic and
Northumbrian) of this region, as well as to promote home-grown talent.
Northumberland has its own flag, based on the design first used on the tomb of
St Oswald in the 7th century. The current version was granted to the county council in 1951, and adopted as the flag of Northumberland county in 1995.
(External Link)
Media
Having no large population centres, the county's mainstream media outlets are served from nearby
Tyne and Wear, including
radio stations and
television channels (such as
BBC Look North,
BBC Radio Newcastle,
Tyne Tees Television and
Metro Radio), along with the majority of daily newspapers covering the area (
The Journal,
Evening Chronicle). It is worth remembering however that whereas Northumberland, like many administrative areas in England, has been shorn of its geographical regional centre, that centre - Newcastle upon Tyne - remains an essential element within the entity we know as Northumberland. Newcastle's newspapers are as widely read in its Northumbrian hinterland as any of those of the wider county: the
Northumberland Gazette,
Morpeth Herald,
Berwick Advertiser,
Hexham Courant and the
News Post Leader.
Lionheart FM, a
community radio station based in
Alnwick, has recently been awarded a five-year community broadcasting license by
OFCOM.
Radio Borders covers Berwick and the rural north of the county.
People
Famous people born in Northumberland
Ashington was the birth place of the three famous footballers
Bobby and
Jack Charlton in 1937 and 1935 respectively; and
Jackie Milburn previously in 1924. The basketballer
Alan Hoyle was born here in 1983 whilst in 1978
Steve Harmison, an international
cricketer was born here.
Mickley was the birth place of
Thomas Bewick, an artist, wood engraver and naturalist in 1753 and
Bob Stokoe, a footballer, F.A. Cup winning manager in 1930
Other notable births include:
Thomas Addison, a physician born at Longbenton in 1793
George Airy, an astronomer and geophysicist born at Alnwick in 1802
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, landscape and garden designer born at Kirkharle in 1715
Josephine Butler, social reformer born at Milfield in 1828
Basil Bunting, a poet born at Scotswood-on-Tyne in 1900
Grace Darling, a heroine born at Bamburgh in 1815
Pete Doherty, a musician born at Hexham in 1979
Bryan Donkin, an engineer and industrialist born at Sandhoe in 1768
Robson Green, an actor and singer born at Hexham in 1964
Daniel Gooch, an engineer and politician born at Bedlington in 1816
Sir Alistair Graham (1942 –), noted public figure
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister born at the family seat of Howick Hall in 1764
John Rushworth (1793-1860), an historian born at Acklington Park, Warkworth
George Stephenson, an engineer born at Wylam in 1781
Trevor Steven, footballer born in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1963
Hugh Trevor-Roper, an historian born at Glanton in 1914
William Turner, ornithologist and botanist born at Morpeth in 1508
C. V. Wedgwood, an historian born in 1910
Famous people linked with Northumberland
Matthew Festing, 79th Grand Master, the Order of Malta.
Thomas Burt, one of the first working-class Members of Parliament and was secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863
Ross Noble, a stand-up comedian raised in Cramlington in the 1970s and 1980s
Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy (1365-1403), borders warlord and rebel
Billy Pigg, a 20th century musician who was vice-President of the Northumbrian Pipers Society
Algernon Swinburne, a poet raised at Capheaton Hall
Kathryn Tickell, a modern-day player of the Northumbrian smallpipes
Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Cotman all painted memorable pictures of Northumberland. Turner always tipped his hat towards Norham Castle as the foundation of his fame and fortune.
Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player, currently lives in rural Northumberland.
Alan Shearer Footballer, Lives in Ponteland
The site (External Link) contains exhaustive detailed entries for famous deceased Northumbrians.
Settlements
Further Information
Get more info on 'Northumberland'.
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