Northumberland

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

Northumberland
Flag of 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
ISO 3166-2:	GB-NBL
ONS code:	35
NUTS 3:	UKC21
Demographics
Population: - Total (2006 est.) - Density - Admin. Council	Ranked 44th 309,900 62 / km² Ranked 33rd
Ethnicity:	99.0% White
Politics
Northumberland County Council http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/
Executive:	TBA (council NOC)
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

Long Crag.

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.

1 History
2 Physical geography
3 Ecology
4 Economy and industry
5 Education
6 Demographics
7 Politics
8 Culture
9 Media
10 People
- 10.1 Famous people born in Northumberland
- 10.2 Famous people linked with Northumberland
11 Settlements
12 See also
13 External links
14 Notes and references
15 Bibliography

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] Physical geography

Physical geography of Northumberland and surrounding areas

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.

River Coquet.

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.

[edit] Ecology

There are a variety of notable habitats and species in Northumberland including: Chillingham Cattle herd; Holy Island; Farne Islands; and Staple Island.

[edit] Economy and industry

Housedon Hill

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].

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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].

[edit] Politics

See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northumberland

Like most English 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.^[16]^[17]^[18]

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.

[edit] Culture

The Northumberland Flag

Northumberland has traditions not found elsewhere in England, reflecting a mix of indigenous, Anglian, Celtic and Norse influences^{[citation needed]}. 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 would 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.[1]

[edit] 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.

[edit] People

George Stephenson was born in Northumberland

[edit] 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

[edit] Famous people linked with Northumberland

Image:Swinburne.jpg

Algernon Swinburne, the poet was raised in 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 [2] contains exhaustive detailed entries for famous deceased Northumbrians.

[edit] Settlements

See also: List of places in Northumberland

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

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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