For other places with this name, see Northumberland (disambiguation)

Northumberland
Geography
Status:	Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Region:	North East England
Area: - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 6th 5,013 km² Ranked 6th
Admin HQ:	Morpeth
:	GB-NBL
ONS code:	35
NUTS 3:	UKC21
Demographics
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density - Admin. Council	Ranked 44th 311,400 62 / km² Ranked 33rd
Ethnicity:	99.0% White
Politics
Northumberland County Council [1]
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Peter Atkinson (C) Alan Beith (LD) Ronnie Campbell (L) Denis Murphy (L)
Police Force Covering Area
Northumbria Police
Districts
Blyth Valley Wansbeck Castle Morpeth Tynedale Alnwick Berwick-upon-Tweed

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 at ; 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

Main article: History of Northumberland

Once part of the Roman Empire and the scene of many wars between England and Scotland, Northumberland has a long and complicated history. Hence there are many castles in Northumberland, including among the better-known those at Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh, Warkworth and Alnwick.

The region of present-day Northumberland once formed the core of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which was later united with Deira to form Northumbria. 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. Lindisfarne was the home of the Lindisfarne Gospels and Saint Cuthbert, who is buried at 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 thought to be Morpeth, since Northumberland County Council's offices are in that town or may be thought of as 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 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. 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] Between 1971 and 2000 the county averaged 1321 to 1390 hours of sunshine per year.^[4]

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[5]	Agriculture[6]	Industry[7]	Services[8]
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.^[9] 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.^[10] Between 1999 and 2003 businesses in the county grew 4.4% to 8,225, making 0.45% of registered businesses in the UK.^[11]

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.^[12].

Demographics

At the Census 2001 Northumberland registered a population of 307,190,^[13] estimated to be 309,237 in 2003.^[14] 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.^[15].

Politics

Like most English shire counties Northumberland has a two-tier system of local government. It 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.

The Department for Communities and Local Government have passed plans to reorganise Northumberland's administrative structure. Two proposals are being 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 changes are planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009.^[16][17][18]

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. 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.

In general, the culture of Northumberland, as with the north east of England, has much more it would seem in common with Scottish Lowland culture than with the rest of England, the two perhaps having more in common with each other in some respects, than with other parts of their respective countries. The links between Northumberland and Scotland are audible in the dialects of both, which 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.[2]

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). Newspapers focusing exclusively on Northumberland or its districts include 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 Northumbria

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
• 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 Northumbria

• 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 raising 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
• Mark Knopfler, the lead singer of Dire Straits released a song called "Fare Thee Well Northumberland" on his 2002 album, The Ragpicker's Dream.
• Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player, currently lives in rural Northumberland.

Settlements

Major settlements in Northumberland
Alnwick | Ashington | Bamburgh | Bedlington | Berwick-upon-Tweed | Blyth | Cramlington | Haltwhistle | Hexham | Morpeth | Newbiggin-by-the-Sea | Ponteland | Prudhoe | Rothbury | Seahouses | Wooler

See also

• Duke of Northumberland
• Northumbria
• List of places of interest and tourist attractions in Northumberland
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northumberland
• Anglo-Scottish border

External links

• Visit Northumberland - The Official Visitor Site for Northumberland from Northumberland Tourism
• Northumberland Parish Index
• Northumberland County Council
• BBC Northumberland and Tyneside
• Northumbrian Language Society
• Northumbrian Traditional Music
• Consulting Northumberland Residents
• Northumbrian Mountaineering Club
• Northumberland Coast - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
• Northumberland National Park
• Northumberland Secondary Strategy
• Northumberland Strategic Partnership
• Northumberland Photos
• Northumberland Community and Voluntary Groups
• Northumberland Community Engagement
• Northumberland Youth Democracy
• Northumberland Events
• Enjoy Northumberland

Notes and references

Bibliography

Tomlinson, W. W. (1888). Comprehensive guide to the county of Northumberland (reprinted 1968). Trowbridge, UK: Redwood.

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