Bardon Mill is a small village in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, within the vicinity of the ancient

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

. It is located around from

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

, from

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, and from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Nearby landmarks include

Allen Banks & Staward Gorge Allen Banks & Staward Gorge is National Trust property in the English county of Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county i ...

, Sycamore Gap, The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre and Vindolanda Roman Fort.

Amenities

The local pub in Bardon Mill i
The Bowes Hotel
Church services alternate weekly between St. Cuthbert's Church at

Beltingham Beltingham G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 13. is a small village on the River South Tyne in Northumberland, in England. It is situated southeast of Bardon Mill and to the west of Hexham. In t ...

and the Church of All Hallows at Henshaw, both of which are very close to the village. There is a very active

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

. A

leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

club show is held every year, the produce from which is auctioned along with donations the day after the show. Funds are then donated to local charities. Every October, there is the Bardon Mill and Roman Empire

conkers Conkers is a traditional children's game in Great Britain and Ireland played using the seeds of horse chestnut trees—the name 'conker' is also applied to the seed and to the tree itself. The game is played by two players, each with a conker ...

championships, which is held on the village green. Local community projects are asked to run a stall at the event to raise funds for their own or community projects.

Demography

The data below shows that 49.3% of the population in Bardon Mill (Parish) are male, and 50.7% are female, which is similar to the national average and the average within the county of

. A total of 1.8% of the population were from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) group in Bardon Mill (Parish). This figure is lower than that of the average in Northumberland , as well as being significantly lower than the national average . Data from the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

found that the average life expectancy in the Haydon and Hadrian

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

is 81.9 years for men, and 85.4 years for women. These statistics compare very favourably, when compared to the average life expectancy in the

North East of England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

, of 77.4 and 81.4 years, for men and women respectively. Car ownership is very high in Bardon Mill (Parish), with a total of 95.3% households having access to at least one car. This is significantly higher than the average within Northumberland , as well as the national average .

Economy

The only commercial pottery in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

currently licensed to produce

salt glaze pottery Salt-glaze or salt glaze pottery is pottery, usually stoneware, with a glaze of glossy, translucent and slightly orange-peel-like texture which was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during the higher temperature part of the firing pr ...

i
Errington Reay & Co.
which was established in the village in 1878.

Education

Henshaw Church of England First School
is located in the neighbouring village of Henshaw, providing education for students aged between 4 and 11 years old. The nearb
Haltwhistle Academy
provides education for students aged between 3 and 11 years old. In terms of secondary education
Haydon Bridge High School
provides secondary education for students aged between 11 and 16 years old, as well as post-16 study.

Folklore

A nearby farm is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a robber, who was murdered there in the 14th century. The last alleged sighting was in 1933.

Governance

Haydon and Hadrian is a local council ward in the county of

. This ward covers an area of around , and has a population of 4,454. , the Haydon and Hadrian ward is served by Liberal Democrats councillor, Alan Sharp. The village is located within the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, and is served by

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Member of Parliament (MP) A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

Guy Opperman Guy Thomas Opperman (born 18 May 1965) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Employment since October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion at the Department for Work ...

. The village is also in two civil parishes, divided by the Chainley Burn. The west of the village is in Henshaw parish, while the eastern portion is in Bardon Mill parish, which also extends a long way south of the

River South Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

, as well as north of the village.

Landmarks

A little over a mile to the south-west of the village is Willimoteswick Manor, a 16th-century fortified manor house, largely rebuilt in 1900. Just over a mile east of Bardon Mill is

Ridley Hall Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and membe ...

and Allen Banks. Ridley Hall was the ancestral home of a branch of the Bowes-Lyons, the late Queen Mother's family. Weddings and other functions are often held there including a

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night ( sc ...

Ceilidh which is organised by the local church. The churches for the area are in

and Henshaw. Allen Banks, which was formerly the estate belonging to the hall, were donated to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and includes 500 acres of riverbank and woodland walks, affording some of the best views in the area.

Northumberland National Park Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall, and it is one of least visited of the National Parks. The park ...

is located within a couple of miles of Bardon Mill. The northern end of the

North Pennines The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and ...

is just a mile or so from here.

Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (''castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated.British windo- 'fair, white, blessed', landa 'enclosure/meadow/prairie/grassy plain' (the modern Welsh word woul ...

Roman settlement is in the parish just over north of the A69. It is a world-renowned site and the location of the finding of the

Vindolanda tablets The Vindolanda tablets were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain (they have since been antedated by the Bloomberg tablets). They are a rich source of information about life on the northern fr ...

– the oldest 'postcards' in the world. Some of these are to be found in the museum at Vindolanda along with a great many Roman finds from the days of the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

is located north of Bardon Mill and is a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Many people come from all over the world to see the Wall and the forts along it, the best preserved being

Housesteads Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 1 ...

, which is located from the village. The

Hadrian's Wall Path Hadrian's Wall Path is a long-distance footpath in the north of England, which became the 15th National Trail in 2003. It runs for , from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. For most of its length it ...

, covering a distance of , as well as the Hadrian's Cycleway, both pass through the village.

Notable residents

Lilian Bowes-Lyon (1895–1949), was born and grew up at Ridley Hall, near Bardon Mill. She wrote many poems about Northumberland, including ''Allendale Dog'' and ''Northumbrian Farm''. She was a cousin of

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

Transport

Air

The nearest airports are Carlisle Lake District Airport and

Newcastle International Airport Newcastle International Airport is an international airport in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. Located approximately from Newcastle City Centre, it is the primary and busiest airport in North East England, and the second busiest in Norther ...

, which are located around from the village by road respectively.

Bus

The village is served by

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...

and

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which ...

's 685 bus service, which provides one bus per hour linking Carlisle,

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

and Haltwhistle with Hexham,

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

and Newcastle.

Rail

The village is served by

Bardon Mill Bardon Mill is a small village in Northumberland, within the vicinity of the ancient Hadrian's Wall. It is located around from Hexham, from Carlisle, and from Newcastle upon Tyne. Nearby landmarks include Allen Banks & Staward Gorge, Sycamor ...

station, which serves the Tyne Valley Line.

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

provide 11 trains per day to

, and 13 trains per day to

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. From nearby

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...

, which is located around from the village, there is a more regular service provided, with two trains per hour to Carlisle, Hexham and Newcastle.

Road

The village is located near to the A69 road, which runs for from Carlisle to the A1 at

Denton Burn Denton Burn is an area located in Central Newcastle, approximately to the west of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne in England, United Kingdom. It is officially designated a suburb of the city, where it is linked to Carlisle by the A69 a ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Northumberland Civil parishes in Northumberland