Alwinton | |
---|---|
St Michael and All Angels | |
Location within Northumberland | |
Population | 71 (2001 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | NT925065 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MORPETH |
Postcode district | NE65 |
Dialling code | 01669 |
Police | Northumbria |
Fire | Northumberland |
Ambulance | North East |
UK Parliament | |
Alwinton (previously named "Allenton" and sometimes still referred to as this) is a village and former parish in Northumberland, England. Alwinton is named after the nearby River Alwin, and means farm on the River Alwin. [2]
Alwinton lies at the head of the Coquet valley, on the edge of both the Otterburn Army Training Estate and the Northumberland National Park. The village is roughly 10 miles (16 km) from the border with Scotland, and about 18 miles (29 km) to the west of Alnwick.
The neighbouring village of Harbottle and Harbottle Castle are about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) from Alwinton. A road continues past Alwinton into the Cheviot Hills where it terminates at the ancient Roman military encampment of Chew Green.
Having no shops, Alwinton's social life centres on the Rose and Thistle Inn, a public house owned by the Latchams. Regular Church of England services are offered at St. Michael and All Angels, which traditionally serves the parish of Alwinton encompassing the nearby townships of Biddlestone, Burradon, Clennell, Fairhaugh, Farnham, Linbriggs, Netherton, Peels, and Sharperton. In the early 21st century several of rural Northumberland's least populated parishes were merged into slightly larger units, and Alwinton was one example, being merged with the neighbouring Biddlestone (where from the Census 2011 the population is included).
Alwinton is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Surnames of Alwinton residents during the period 1538 to 1828 gathered from militia lists, parish books, feodary books and poll books include Belany, Bell, Bertram, Bland, Brokyt, Brown, Browne, Burn, Charleton, Clarke, Clavering, Clennell, Davison, Drybrough, Dykson, Foreste, Gibson, Gladstaines, Hall, Handley, Kirkup, Levingstone, Martin, Moses, Myngzies, Nesbit, Nevison, Patonson, Peary, Potts, Pratt, Robson, Scott, Selby, Starbecke, Steynson, Stuart, Thirwall, Trumble, Turnbull, Wallis, Whyt, Widdrington, Wilkinson, Wilson, and Young (Dixon, 1903, pp. 173, 215, 230).
Census records for Alwinton township during the 19th and 20th centuries indicate a gradual decline in population:
Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Population | 102 | 103 | 106 | 85 | 78 | 71 | 64 | 83 | 88 | 60 |
Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | ||||||
Population | 58 | 53 | 51 | 43 |
The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels is an early Norman church, and was built on a hillside in the late 11th century or 12th century. Little historical information is available about Alwinton prior to 1245, when the value of its vicarage was first recorded. In 1279, two prisoners escaped from Harbottle Castle and fled to Alwinton church, where they confessed to thievery and abjured the realm.
The church building was significantly neglected in the 15th and 16th centuries, to the extent that a Court of High Commission reported "the walls of the church and chancell are in great decay, noe glass in the windowes and noe doores for the church". Major repairs were finally funded and completed in the 1720s. The church was largely rebuilt in the 19th century. The crypt was last used for a burial in 1868 and is now inaccessible. The church is now a Grade II* listed building.
The annual Border Shepherds Show, a traditional agricultural show or fair featuring sheep farming in the borders area of England and Scotland, is held on the second Saturday of October. The Alwinton show is the last agricultural show of the season in the borders area. Traditionally, it marks the end of summer and the time for hill farmers to begin preparations for winter.
Alnwick is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116.
Rothbury is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is 14 miles (22.5 km) north-west of Morpeth and 26 miles (42 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 2,107.
The River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast at Amble. It rises in the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland, and follows a winding course across the landscape ("Coquetdale"). The upper reaches are bordered by the Otterburn Ranges military training ground, and are crossed by a number of bridges built in the 20th century. It passes a number of small villages and hamlets, and feeds one of the lakes created by extraction of gravel that form the Caistron Nature Reserve, before reaching the town of Rothbury, where it is crossed by a grade II listed bridge. Below the town is Thrum Mill, a Grade II-listed water mill.
Warkworth is a village in Northumberland, England. It is probably best known for its well-preserved medieval castle, church and hermitage. The population of Warkworth was 1,493 in 2001, increasing to 1,574 at the 2011 Census.
Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an independent kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the Humber, hence its name, meaning literally 'north of the Humber'. Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, and the greatest number of recognised battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a primarily rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.
Harbottle is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England about 10 miles (16 km) south-east of the Scottish border, in the southeastern part of the Cheviot Hills and inside Northumberland National Park. The village is the site of Harbottle Castle built by order of Henry II. Now in ruins, the castle was constructed by the Umfraville family to protect against invaders from Scotland.
Alnham is a hamlet and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is about 14 miles (23 km) west of Alnwick, and is about 6 miles (10 km) from the Scottish border, on the south of a small tributary of the River Aln. The village stands on uneven ground, sloping from south to north, at the foot of the southern outliers of the Cheviot Hills. The River Aln flows eastward through the village from its source in the Cheviot Hills down to the coast. The layout of the village appears to have been dictated by the river. The estimated population taken at the 2011 Census was around 245.
Biddlestone is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is about 14 miles (23 km) to the west of Alnwick. In the early 21st Century several of Northumberland's least populated parishes were merged to form slightly larger units. Biddlestone was merged with Alwinton, the enlarged parish having a population of 177 in 2011.
Cartington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thropton, in Northumberland, England. It is about 11 miles (18 km) south west of Alnwick, and about 2 miles (3 km) north west of Rothbury. In 2019 it had an adult population of 95, after having returned a population of 97 in 2001.
Clennell is a small village and as Clennel, a former civil parish, now in the parish of Alwinton, in Northumberland, England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of Alwinton. In 1951 the parish had a population of 37.
Eglingham is a village in Northumberland, England, situated about 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Alnwick and 10 miles (16 km) from Wooler. It lies in the sheltered valley of the Eglingham Burn, a tributary of the River Aln, about 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level, in a rural conservation area set amongst rolling countryside, within 5 miles (8 km) of the Cheviot Hills. The village is surrounded by mainly arable farmland, moorland and woodland, including an arboretum and some commercial forestry.
Felton is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, North East England, 8.9 miles (14 km) south of Alnwick and 12 miles (19 km) north of Morpeth. The nearest city, Newcastle upon Tyne, is 24 miles (39 km) south of the village, and the Scottish border is 37 miles (60 km) north of it. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1531.
The Selby family, of English gentry, originated in Selby, Yorkshire, but largely settled in Northumberland and County Durham. At various points through history, the family owned Biddlestone Hall and Twizell Castle in Northumberland in addition to the manor houses Ightham Mote in Kent and at Beal, Northumberland. The family had two baronetcies; the Selby and the Selby-Bigge but both are now extinct.
Barrowburn is a hamlet in Upper Coquetdale in the county of Northumberland, England. It comprises a working farm with associated buildings and two holiday lets. One of the holiday lets is the Old School House, which closed as a school in the 1970s. The settlement is situated by the River Coquet, at its confluence with Barrow Burn (stream), after which the settlement is named. There is a road bridge over the Coquet and a ford over the burn here.
Whittingham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is situated on the banks of the River Aln, roughly 4.5 miles (7 km) east of its source at Alnham and 7.3 miles (12 km) west of Alnwick. The thirteenth/fourteenth century pele tower, Whittingham Tower, was converted into almshouses in 1845 and is now in private ownership.
The Church of St Michael in Alnham, in the English county of Northumberland, is a medieval structure dating from circa 1200. Built on a Roman camp site, it is mentioned in records dating to 1291; it is a Grade I listed building.
David Dippie Dixon was an English local historian and writer on his native Northumberland.
George Tate was an English tradesman from Northumberland, known as a local topographer, antiquarian and naturalist. His major work was a history of his native town, Alnwick.