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NORTHnaaRLAND. 



NORTHOMBERLAND. 



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grmt Diiiiib«r of Romui renwini hsTe been found bere. Besides tbesa 

 ststioos oD the line of the w&U there were sevenl other plaoea of 

 uote in the Konun times in thin county. Of these we enumerate Uie 

 foUowioK : — Bremeaiuni, or Bnuui-Dium, st Itocheater in Redesdale ; 

 Uontopituni/ or Corstopliuni, at Corcheijter, near (Jorbridge ; Ad 

 Ftnea, at Chew Qreen, near the bead of tlie Coquet. There are 

 Roman camps in diflareut parts of the county. ludeed, in the number 

 of Roman remains existing or found in it, Northumberland surpasses 

 any other Knglish county. A great liomau ro.-id, the northern Watling- 

 street, entervd this county firom Durhnm, and |>:v«ging near Corbridge 

 diTided into two branefaea, one of which nui by Habitaucum (near 

 liellingham), Brtrmenium, and Ad Fines into Scotland, the other ran 

 to the wast of Morpeth and Alnwick into Scotland by Berniok. 

 Another Roman road, called the Maiden Way, entered the couuty 

 from Alston in Cumbeilaud, and ran to the station Magua on the 

 great wait 



Upon the departure of the nomans in the 5th century, Northumber- 

 land became the prey of the Picts and other barbarians, who broke 

 through the wall and ravaged the island. When the Saxons were 

 inTited to oppose these invaders, a body of them were posted with 

 thair ships at the east end of the Uoman wall (about a.d. 454); but it 

 waa not till 547 that a serious attempt was made at the permtment 

 oooquest of this part of the country. The invaders were Angles ; and 

 their leader, Ida, though be experienced a stout resistance from the 

 natiTes, laid the foundations of an Auglo-SaxoD kingdom of Bryueich, 

 or Bemica, which extended from the Tyne to the Kortli. He built a 

 castle on the coast, to which he i;are the name of Bebban Burgh, 

 since better known as Bamborough. Ida died in 5Q0. Opo of the 

 succeeding chieftains, named Ella, separating himself from the other 

 Angles of Bryneich, founded the kingdom of Ueifyr or Deira, sepa- 

 rated from Bryneich by a vast forest that occupied what is now the 

 county of Durham. The two kingdoms of Bryneich and Dcifyr, wheu 

 united, constituted the kingdom of Nortbumbria, which extended aIou<; 

 the eastern shore of the island from the H umber to the Forth, ami 

 was bounded on the west by the British kingdoms of Strathclyde, or 

 Vale of Clyde, and Cumbria, which extended south to Lancashire. 



In 844 and again iu 867 the Danes attacked Northumberland. 

 They made an entire conquest of the country, and settled iu it. 

 Halfdans became sovereign, and divided the kingdom among his 

 followers. In the treaty which Alfred mode with the Danes, 

 Northumbria was included in the Danelagh, or Danish territory. 

 Against the successors of Alfred the Northumbrian Danes carried on 

 a suooeasion of petty wars and anarchical struggles till the dissolution 

 of the kingdom of Northumberland iu 950. Northumbria was then 

 divided into earldoms or counties ; of these Bemicia, or Northumbria 

 north of the Tjnc, which was nearly conterminous with the county 

 of Northumberland, was one, Deira (Yorkshire) another, and Lothian 

 (south of Scotland) a third. The couuty of Northumberland, as 

 well as Cumberland, Durham, and Westmoreland, is omitted in 

 'Domesday Book.' 



As the Scottish princes augmented their territories and consolidated 

 their power, and as the Anglo-Norman princes on the other hand grew 

 in wealth and resources, Northumberland became subject to the evils 

 and received the constitution of a border county. The earldom 

 became merely titular, and the government of the couuty was given 

 to the high-sheriS', who was intrusted with unusual powers. Kxcur- 

 sions fur plunder became the occupation of the boi'derers on both 

 sides of the frontier, and they alternately inflicted and endured the 

 miseries of a state of war. Agriculture was neglected, and cattle 

 became the chief property of Uie landowner. Castles and towers 

 were erected in almost every part, and every habitation was con- 

 stmotad with a view to defence as well as residence. Resistsnce to 

 the plimdarers led to scenes of blood, and bloodshed laid the founda- 

 tions of deadly feuds. The fierce and unsettled habits caused by such 

 a condition continued till modem times. The inhabitants of the 

 aaatem border, toward Berwick-upon-Tweed, Were first brought into 

 a mora peaceful way of life ; but amid the wastes and fastnesses of 

 the western side of the county the borderers only at a comparatively 

 late period became assimilated to the rest of their countrymen. 



The most important occurrences connected with the stin-ing histon 

 of Northumberland, from the Conquest to the early part of the 10th 

 century, are the following :— The defeat and death of Malcolm 

 Canmore, king of Scotland, while besieging Alnwick Castle, 1098, by 

 Robert de Moubray, earl of NorthumberUnd ; the capture of William 

 the Lion, king of Scotland, under the walls of Alnwick Castle in 

 1174; the destructive incursions of the Scots, 1290 and 1287, in 

 retaliation for the cruelties of Edward I. after the etorming of 

 Brrwick-on-Tweed ; another Scotch invasion in 13H, after the bRttle 

 of Bannockbum ; the victory of the Scotch at Ottorbuni in 1387, 

 when HoUpor was taken prisoner, and E.irl Douglas, the Scotch 

 commander, slain (this battle is supposed to have furnished the subject 

 of the old ballwl of ' Chevy Chase * ) ; the battle of Homildon, or 

 Humbleton, near Wooler, in 1402, whore the Fjirl of Northumber- 

 liind, bill son Hotspur, and the Scotch Knrl of March, defeated about 

 lO.OuO Soots under the Earl DougUs, who was Uken prisoner; the 

 defeat of an English army, 4000 strong, under Hotspur's son, at 

 repj)erdean, in 1486, by Earl Doaglas at the bead of 4000 Scota (this 

 l«tll«, ud not the fight of Otterburn, has furnished, aooording to 



some, the origin of the ballad of 'Chevy Chase'); the capture of 

 Alnwick iu 1402, and of Bamborough Castle iu 1404, by Margaret of 

 Anjou, whose forces were soon after routed at Hedgley Moor near 

 Alnwick, and at Hexham. 



In the reign of Henry VIIL a large body of Soots, under Lord 

 Hume, were out off, on their return from a marauding incursion into 

 the county, at Millfield, noar the bank of the Till, and a little south 

 of Ford Castle (1613). The king of Scotland, James IV., eager to 

 revenge the defeat of his subjects, entered Northumberland the same 

 year with 40,000 men, forced the garrison of Norham to surrender, 

 and took and partly demolished Wark, Etal, and Ford castles. Mean- 

 while the Earl of Surrey advanced with an Kuglish army of about 

 30,000 men. The two armies met at Flodden, about two miles west 

 of the spot where Hume, whose defeat the king desired to avenge, had 

 been overthi-own. The Scots were utterly defeated. James fell on the 

 field, with the greater part of the brilliant train of nobles who bad 

 accompanied him, and probably about 15,000 men. Soon after the 

 accession of James L the office of lord warden of the marches fell into 

 disuse, the garrison of Berwick was reduced, and tbe frontier lost its 

 military character. It waa long indeed before border feuds entirely 

 died anay; but they assumed the character of private quarrels or 

 marauding expeditious. In the Oreat Civil War the inhabitants of 

 the county generally joined the Royalist jjarty. 



Of the many centuries of strife and consequent misery this county 

 contaiua many memorials. The ruins of Norham and Wark castles 

 still overlook the Tweed, and those of Ueton, Dudhowe, and Ford 

 rise on the bauks of the 'Till or its tributary streams. Norham is the 

 most striking ruin : the walla of the keep are now reduced to a mere 

 shell ; the keep is a square tower of four stories above the vaults, 

 built of red freestone very liable to decay. The outworks hava been 

 demolished, and part of the bill on which the castle sUmds has been 

 washed away by the river. Two towers of Ford Castle remain incorpo- 

 rated in a more moderu building. 



Bamborough and Dunstauborough castles arc ou the coast. [Bam- 

 BOHOUQU.] Dunstanborough Costlo is protected by steep cliffs on the 

 north and east sides ; ou the south and west sides it was defended by 

 a wall and towers, which are for the most part yet stamling. There 

 ore also remains of a chapel. The entrance g»toway ou the south side 

 is yet staudiiig. 



In the interior of the county are Alnwick and Waikworth castles, 

 which have been described elsewhere. Of Cullaley Castle, near Whil- 

 tingham, the western tower is of great antiquity ; the rest of the 

 building is more modem. Bothall Cistle on the Wensbeck, Milford, 

 Belsay, and Hamham castles, are all near Morpeth. The picturesque 

 ruins of Bothall, which consist chiefly of the gateway, with its flanking 

 towers, and the outer wall of the court iu which the keep stood, aro 

 on an eminence ou the bank of the river. There are considerable 

 remains of Langley Castle noar Hexhum, and ruins of Bleukinsop, 

 Bellester, Thirwall, and Featherstone castles, near Haltwhistle ; of 

 Staward Castle on the banks of the Allen ; and of Prudhoe Castle, the 

 ancient seat of the Umfravilles, on the south bank of the Tyne, between 

 Newcastle and Hexham. This last is one of the finest ruins in the 

 couuty ; it stimds on a precipitous bank of the river 60 feet high. The 

 gateway, a lofty embattled square tower, the outer wall, and the keep, 

 are yet standing ; and there are ruins of the chapel and other buildings. 

 The hostility to which the county wa? exposed rendered it necessary 

 for the smaller proprietors to have their dwellings strongly built ; 

 their habitations were towers, with the basement vaiJted to shelter 

 the cattle of the neighbourhood. Whittou Tower, near Rothbury, 

 now converted into a rectory-house, may be taken as a specimen of 

 these fortified dwellings. The walls are 1 1 feet thick at the founda- 

 tion, 9 feet in the kitchen, and 6 feet in the chambers over it. In the 

 basement vaiUts is a deep well Remains of similar towers occur in 

 different parts of the county. 



The chief eoolesiastioal antiquities of the county aro noticed under 

 the towns before referred to. Of Hulne Abbey, for Carmelite friara, 

 oloee to Alnwick, there are some remains. Of Brinkburu Auguetiuian 

 Priory near Rothbury, the tower of the church, part of the side walls, 

 and several pillars and arches, remain. They contain various examples 

 of transition from the Norman to the early English styles. There aro 

 several ruined churches in different parts of the county. 



Statulia: Rcliyious Wunhip and JCducaiion. — According to the 

 Returns of the Census in 1851 there were then in the county 488 

 places of worship, of which 198 belonged to four sections of Methodists, 

 164 to the Established Church, 68 to Presbyterians, 20 t<i Roman 

 Catholics, and 14 to Independents. The total number of sittings pro- 

 vided was 136,068. The number of Sunday schools waa 359, of which 

 131 were conducted by Episcopalians, 116 by Hethodiata, 65 by 

 Presbyterians, and 1 8 by Independents. The number of scbolara waa 

 29,687. Of day schools there were 642, of which 301 were public 

 schools with 24,765 scholars, and 341 were private schools with 

 12,624 scholars. There were 22 evening schools for adults, with 629 

 Bcholsrs. Of literary and scientific institutions there were 40, with 

 8688 members, and 68,676 volumes in the libraries belonging to them. 



Savingt Banks. — In 1 858 the county possessed seven savings banks, 

 at Allendale, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Hexham, Morpeth, 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Tynemouth. Tlie total amount owing to 

 depositon on November 20th 1868 was 669,876^. 18*. M. 



