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Northumberland

Northumberland is a county in England, on the border with Scotland.

The county's largest boundaries were from the river Humber in the south, to the Forth in the North, as the kingdom of Northumbria under King Edwin. At present, however, the county extends covers a much smaller area. Until 1974 it included Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the traditional county town of Northumberland, but that is now part of Tyne and Wear. The county town is now Morpeth.

For some purposes, particularly wildlife recording and many sporting organisations, the 1974 boundary changes are not followed, retaining Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North Tyneside within Northumberland.

Northumberland has a long and complicated history, as it was the scene of many wars between England and Scotland, dating back to the times before the Roman Empire. This explains the many castles in Northumberland, including among the better-known those at Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh, Warkworth and Alnwick - see Castles in England for a full list.

Northumberland is 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, and set up camp there. Lindisfarne was also the home of the Lindisfarne Gospels (presently situated in the British Library, London) and also of Saint Cuthbert who is buried at Durham Cathedral.

Bamburgh Castle 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 thought to be the market town of Alnwick, mainly because the Duke of Northumberland has his home there; or may be thought of as Morpeth, since Northumberland County Council's offices are in that town.

Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the Pilgrimage of Grace and the Rising of the North in Tudor times. These revolts were usually led by the then Dukes of Northumberland, the Percy family. Most of these Dukes would betray their comrades in whatever rebellion they were leading, give the information to the government, and get away scot-free. Shakespeare mentions one of the Percys, Harry Hotspur. The county was also a centre for 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, as it was largely rural and unpopulated. However, after the union of the crowns of Scotland and England under King James VI and I, Northumberland became much more peaceful, though it still had its moments.

Today Northumberland is still largely rural - the least populated County in Britain - and no longer commands any sort of power in British affairs. Its power was largely derived from the border conflicts, as the Lords of the Marches were entrusted with making sure England was not invaded by the Scots, and so became powerful. At present there is a movement to attract tourism to Northumberland, by pointing out the beauty of the scenery - coastal and rural - and the many castles and the important role Northumberland played in English history. Nowhere is this more to be seen than on Lindisfarne. Attempts to raise the level of awareness of Northumbrian culture to that of Scottish 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.

Famous Northumbrians include:

Fred Reed, a dialect poet
Basil Bunting, another poet
Lord Grey, author of the Reform Bill
Admiral Collingwood
Lord Armstrong, present owner of Bamburgh Castle
William Armstrong, industrialist and the builder of Cragside

Areas include
Note: some of these places are no longer in Northumberland

Alnwick, Amble
Bamburgh Bardon Mill Belford, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Brandon, Northumberland
Chesters Chollerford Corbridge Craster
Dalton, Hexham, Northumberland, Dalton, Ponteland, Northumberland
Elsdon Embleton
Falstone
Greenhaugh Greenhead
Haltwhistle, Hartley, Haydon Bridge Hexham Highfields, Horsley, Prudhoe, Northumberland, Horsley, Redesdale, Northumberland, Housesteads
Ingram
Langley, Linton, Longhorsley, Lowick, Lynemouth
Mindrum, Morpeth, Murton
Newcastle upon Tyne, Netherton
Once Brewed
Rothbury
Seahouses Shipley, Northumberland, Stonehaugh
Vindolanda
Wooler

Places of interest

Cheviot Hills
Churnsike Lodge
Coquet Island, RSPB
Cragside
Dunstanburgh Castle, National Trust
Farne Islands, National Trust
Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site
Hexham Abbey
Kielder Water
Lindisfarne
North Pennines AONB - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Northumberland National Park

The article used for this page is available for download under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. This content is taken from Wikipedia and can be found at the following link [Original Source of article]