Great Whittington

Great Whittington
The Queen's Head, Great Whittington
Great Whittington Location within Northumberland
OS grid reference	NZ004708
Civil parish	Whittington
Unitary authority	Northumberland
Ceremonial county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district	NE19
Dialling code	01434
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	Hexham
List of places UK England Northumberland 55°01′52″N1°59′35″W / 55.031°N 1.993°W / 55.031; -1.993

Great Whittington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whittington, in Northumberland, England, 7 miles NE of Hexham. In 1951 the parish had a population of 158, in 2011 it had a population of 401. ^[1]

Governance

Great Whittington is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham. Great Whittington was formerly a township in Corbridge parish, ^[2] from 1866 Great Whittington was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1955 to form Whittington. ^[3]

History

Immediately north of Great Whittington, in a field west of the Unnamed Road leading to Matfen, lies Great Whittington Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post. ^[4] This was 1 of approx. 1,563 underground monitoring posts built all over the UK during the Cold War to monitor the effects of a Nuclear Strike. They were operated by the ROC who were mostly civilian volunteers. Great Whittington ROC post was opened in June 1962 and closed in September 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw the end of the Cold War.

Landmarks

The Devil's Causeway passes the village about 1 mile (2 km) to the west. The causeway was a Roman road which started at Portgate on Hadrian's Wall, north of Corbridge, and extended 55 miles (89 km) northwards across Northumberland to the mouth of the River Tweed at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Transport

Great Whittington is served by Go North East's 74 bus service, which provides four buses per day to Newcastle upon Tyne, Ponteland and Hexham.

Religious sites

A now deconsecrated Wesleyan church can be found on the northern side of the village green, distinguishable by a large cross above the door.

See also

• Halton
• Matfen

References

1. "Population statistics Great Whittington Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 23 January 2022.
2. "History of Great Whittington, in Tynedale and Northumberland". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
3. "Relationships and changes Great Whittington Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
4. "Great Whittington ROC Post – Subterranea Britannica".

• The Official Great Whittington Website greatwhittington.com
• Geanology archives ukga.org/england/Northumberland/towns/GreatandLittleWhittington.html

External links

• Media related to Great Whittington at Wikimedia Commons
• Whittington, as seen from the south ^{[ permanent dead link ]}