About Rural Northumberland

Northumberland is a county in North East England which borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south, Tyne and Wear to the south east, and Scotland to the north and north west. In addition, the county has nearly eighty miles of North Sea coastline in the east.

A map of Northumberland is available by clicking here.  

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 in the county than anywhere else in England. Notable castles include Alnwick, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Warkworth, Thirlwall and Chillingham.
 
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 (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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
For more information on the history of Northumberland visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Northumberland (Please note Rural Voices is not responsible for the content of external websites).
 
Physical geography
 
The physical geography of Northumberland is diverse. It is low and flat near the North Sea coast and increasingly mountainous toward the northwest where the Cheviot Hills are found. There are coal fields in the southeast corner of the county, extending along the coastal region north of the river Tyne. Rural Northumberland contains a significant proportion of the region’s wildlife and heritage assets, including the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, Northumberland National Park, Northumberland Coast and North Pennines Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 16% of Northumberland’s land area is devoted to forestry (twice the England average) and the county contains more than 80% of the region’s forestry.
 
There are also a number of issues relating to Northumberland’s landscape caused by actions such as intensive land based activities, impact of open cast coal mining, renewable energy development (e.g. windfarms) and developments to the tourism offer leading to increased visitor numbers in some environmentally sensitive areas.
 
Demographics
 
Northumberland is the sixth largest county in England by size with a land area of 501,301 hectares (1,940 sq miles), but is one of the smallest by population, with a population of 307,190 identified in the 2001 Census. Of this 2001 population 48.8% were male, 24% of the population were aged 0-19, 10% aged 20-29, 43% aged 30-59 and 23% aged over 60. A number of factors contribute to the ageing population of Northumberland including the increase in life expectancy, the migration of older people into the county to retire and the migration of younger people out of the county in search of affordable housing, a better paid or more secure job, or a desire to go onto further or higher education. Northumberland’s population has a greater proportion of older people than England as whole and a lower proportion of people aged between 20 and 34 than in England as a whole. In addition, the population is expected to get older, with people over 55 making up a much higher proportion of the total population in 2021 than they did in 2006. As a result, Northumberland’s working age population has steadily been declining over the past few years and during 2005/06 74.8% of the 16+ aged population were of working age.
 
Forty-six percent of the population live in Blyth Valley and Wansbeck which covers only 3% of the area of Northumberland, giving an urban concentration in the South East corner of the County. The principal towns of Ashington, Blyth and Cramlington are distinctly built up in character with modern housing development and many industrial estates. In comparison the rural parts of the County are very sparsely populated (0.34 people per ha). The majority of the population live in the market towns of Alnwick, Berwick upon Tweed, Morpeth and Hexham together with a number of small towns and villages. These towns have become centres of activity for the rural areas of the County supplying services, job opportunities and community facilities.
 
There are 130,780 households in Northumberland with an average household size of 2.3. Of these households a large number (29%) are single person households. Couples (with or without children) form the largest household type with 49% of households falling into this category. In terms of ethnic group the majority of households are White (99%) with a very small number of Mixed, Asian, Black and Chinese families.
 
An increasingly important issue in the rural county surrounds harnessing the skills and enterprise of migrant workers and making them part of sustainable communities. Proportions of migrant workers are higher in the north of the county than elsewhere and are particularly concentrated in Berwick, Alnwick and Seahouses. 
 
Further information on the County’s demographics is available from InfoNet via www.northumberlandinfonet.org.uk
 
Economy
 
Over the last thirty years, Northumberland’s economic base has gone through radical change and the agricultural sector has continued to downsize. These losses have partially been offset by more jobs in services such as tourism, leisure and retail, which significantly contribute to the fact that 81% of the county’s businesses employ less than ten staff. Income from tourists helps sustain not only tourism businesses but also contributes to the sustainability of a wide range of businesses from other sectors throughout the rural areas. In addition Northumberland’s economy cannot be divorced from that of Tyneside with significant commuting between parts of Northumberland and Tyneside.
 
The county’s overall economic performance is poor with disposable income levels significantly lower than both the regional and national equivalents.
 
There are significant concentrations – principally within the rural coalfield area – of working age residents who are excluded from work. They may be trapped in the “Benefits” culture, have a long-term illness, struggle to read and write, care for others (children or elderly relatives), or do not have the wherewithal to travel.
 
Although employment rates in Rural Northumberland are generally good, the main issue affecting employment in Northumberland is that of underemployment. 22% of Northumberland workers are employed on a part time basis and due to the proportion employed in tourism and related services, are affected by seasonality. Many households are dependant on multiple jobs and income streams. In addition, in 2004 13.6% of rural Northumberland’s unemployed were claiming benefits, which although similar to the regional average is lower than the English average of 15.5%.
 
In 2004 average earnings in Rural Northumberland (£17,411) were lower than the county average (£18,460) and the regional average (£18,499) and substantially less than the national average (£22,823). There is also significant variation within the rural areas, with earnings ranging from £12,294 per annum in Berwick to £20,824 per annum in Castle Morpeth. The average lowest quartile incomes in Tynedale (£7,674 per annum) are the lowest in the North East when compared to the Northumberland average (£8,025 per annum) and the regional average (£10,121 per annum).
 
Rural Northumberland has a higher number of VAT registered businesses than the regional and national averages. A high proportion of these businesses are however micro-businesses (including lifestyle businesses) with limited growth potential or aspiration to grow.
 
Politics
 
Like most English shire counties Northumberland has a two-tier system of local government. It 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.

Map Courtesy of Northumberland County Council and Northumberland Information Network
 
In July 2007 the Government approved a proposal to reorganise Northumberland's administrative structure to create a countywide unitary authority. These changes are planned to be implemented no later than 1st April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. More information about the new authority can be found at www.northumberland.gov.uk
 
Northumberland is represented in the House of Commons by four Members of Parliament:
  • Peter Atkinson (Hexham - Conservative) www.peteratkinson.com
  • Alan Beith (Berwick Upon Tweed - Liberal Democrat) www.alanbeith.org.uk
  • Denis Murphy (Wansbeck – Labour)
  • Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley – Labour)
More information on Northumberland’s MPs is also available via www.theyworkforyou.com
 
Famous People
 
Famous people born in Northumberland include:
  • George Airy, an astronomer and geophysicist born in Alnwick in 1802
  • Thomas Bewick, an artist, wood engraver and naturalist, born in Mickley in 1753
  • Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, landscape and garden designer, born at Kirkharle in 1715
  • Josephine Butler, social reformer, born in Milfield in 1828
  • Bobby Charlton, 1966 World Cup winning footballer, born in Ashington in 1937
  • Jack Charlton, 1966 World Cup winning footballer, born in Ashington in 1935
  • Grace Darling, a heroine famous for rescuing survivors from the SS Forfarshire shipwreck, born in Bamburgh in 1815
  • Robson Green, an actor and singer, born in Hexham in 1964
  • Daniel Gooch, an engineer and politician and the first chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway, born in Bedlington in 1816
  • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister, born at Howick Hall in 1764
  • Steve Harmison, Durham and England cricketer, born in Ashington in 1978
  • Jackie Milburn, Newcastle Utd and England footballer, born in Ashington in 1924
  • George Stephenson, an English mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, born in Wylam in 1781
  • William Turner, ornithologist and botanist, born in Morpeth in 1508
 

Settlements

Click here to visit a list of key settlements in Northumberland.

A summary of road distances between the county's key settlements and nearby cities can be downloaded below.

Useful Downloads

file icon (487kB) Road Distances
A summary of road distances between key Northumberland settlements