From the castle Hogwarts draws inspiration from, to the first house in
the world to be lit by electricity, this visitor's guide to
Northumberland gives readers the full historic scope of the heart of
this ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
Northumberland...to the Romans it was Ad Fines, the limit of the Empire,
the end of the Roman World. It was here in 122 AD that the Emperor
Hadrian decided to build a wall stretching from coast-to-coast to
provide protection, to show the might of the Empire, and as a statement
of his grandeur. Visitors to Northumberland can walk the Wall visiting
milecastles, Roman frontier forts and settlements such as Housesteads
(where you can see the oldest toilets you'll ever see) or Vindolanda
(where you can take part in an archaeological dig) where wooden tablets
detailing life on this frontier (the oldest example of written language
in Britain) were discovered, or the remains of Roman temples and shrines
(such as the Mithraeum at Carrawburgh). After the Romans left,
Northumberland became the heart of one of the greatest kingdoms of
Anglo-Saxon Britain, Northumbria. The home of Saints, scholars and
warrior kings. Visitors can see the ancient seat of this kingdom at the
medieval Bamburgh Castle, visit Hexham Abbey (built in 674 AD), or tour
the magnificent remains of the 7th century Priory at Tynemouth (where
three kings are buried - Oswin (d. 651), Osred (d. 790), and the
Scottish King Malcolm III (d. 1093).
No other county in Britain has as many medieval remains as
Northumberland. From the most grand such as Alnwick Castle (known as the
Windsor of the North, the home of the Dukes of Northumberland, the
capital of Northumberland, and, to many, Hogwarts!) to humble remains
such as the Chantry at Morpeth. At Warkworth visitors can tour the
medieval church (scene of a 12th century Scottish massacre), Warkworth
Castle (another Percy possession and the setting for a scene in
Shakespeare's Henry IV), a medieval hermitage, and the fortified bridge
gatehouse (one of the only surviving examples in Britain).
Northumberland was ravaged during the Anglo-Scottish Wars and this led
to the development of family clans of Border Reivers who were active
during the 16th and early 17th centuries. Raiders, looters, blackmailers
and courageous cavalrymen the Reivers have left many surviving remnants
of their harsh time. Peel Towers dot the landscape alongside Bastle
Houses. The active can even walk in the footsteps of the Reivers by
following the Reivers Way long distance path.
Victorian Northumberland was dominated by both farming and,
increasingly, by the industrial genius of some of its entrepreneurs. The
greatest of these, Lord Armstrong (known as the Magician of the North),
has left behind one of the most magnificent tourist sites in Britain;
his home at Cragside. Carved from a bare hillside and transplanted with
millions of trees and shrubs and crowned with the beautiful Cragside
House visitors can walk the grounds taking advantage of various trails
and spotting wildlife such as red squirrels before visiting the first
house in the world to be lit by electricity!
