Bellingham ( ) is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
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 ...
, to the north-west of
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 ...
and is situated on the Hareshaw Burn at its confluence with the
River North 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 ...
.
Features
![Bellingham Town Hall - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Bellingham_Town_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1144389.jpg)
Famous as a stopping point on the
Pennine Way
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...
trail it is popular with walkers and cyclists. Nearby is the Hareshaw Linn, a waterfall and the site of early coke blast furnaces.
The village's local newspaper is the ''
Hexham Courant
The ''Hexham Courant'' is a weekly newspaper serving primarily the area known as Tynedale in Northumberland. First published in 1864, it now reaches around 45,000 people every week. The paper focuses on local issues and people and provides news f ...
''.
There is also an 18-hole golf course which was established in 1893.
The Heritage Centre is the local museum. It has exhibitions on the
Border Counties Railway, the
Border reivers
Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...
, mining, farming, the photography of W P Collier, and the Stannersburn Smithy. It has a database of local family names and one of old photographs. It also holds special exhibitions of historical or artistic interest, and readings and performances by poets, storytellers, musicians and dancers.
St Cuthbert's
The
Grade-I listed Church of St Cuthbert (13th century, substantially reconstructed in the early 17th century) is described as 'almost unique in England' owing to its stone
barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
, which runs the length of the nave and extends into the south transept. Three miracles in Bellingham connected with the mediaeval cult of St
Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nort ...
are recorded in the twelfth-century ''Libellus'' of
Reginald of Durham
Reginald of Durham (died c. 1190) was a Benedictine monk and hagiologist, a member of the Durham Priory and associated with Coldingham Priory in Scotland.Victoria TudorColdingham, Reginald of (d. c.1190) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ...
.
Within the churchyard on the north side is "The Lang Pack", purportedly the grave of a burglar who attempted to infiltrate a local house by hiding in a beggar's pack, but was discovered after he suffered an ill-timed coughing fit, and was promptly run through with the sword of the house's proprietor.
![Bellingham (North Tyne) Station 1786761 4685d47e](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Bellingham_%28North_Tyne%29_Station_1786761_4685d47e.jpg)
Adjacent to the church is
St Cuthbert's Well, known locally as "Cuddy's Well", an ancient
holy well
A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...
. The well is in the middle of a grassy path leading down to the river, on the other side of the churchyard wall.
From 1735 the parish rectors at Bellingham were under the patronage of the Governors of
Greenwich Hospital. The Governors stipulated that the rectors were to be graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, and naval chaplains. Bellingham Rectory was one of six such rectories in the Simonburn area, the others being
Falstone
Falstone is a small village in Northumberland, England, just east of Kielder Water. The village is from the Anglo–Scottish border. The name ''Falstone'' means "speckled stone". Much of the village is clustered around its two churches, St. P ...
,
Greystead
Greystead is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England west of Bellingham. The population as of the 2011 census was less than 100. It shares a parish council with the adjacent civil parish of Tarset.
Governance
Greystead is i ...
,
Thorneyburn
Thorneyburn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tarset, in Northumberland, England, to the northwest of Bellingham. In 1951 the parish had a population of 74.
Governance
Thorneyburn is in the parliamentary constitu ...
,
Wark on Tyne
Wark on Tyne is a small village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Hexham.
History
The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for earthworks, and refers to the mound at the south of the village. Wark was once the capital ...
and
Simonburn
Simonburn is a small human settlement in Northumberland, England.
Early history
Simonburn lies to the north of Hadrian's Wall, the most noted Roman monument in Great Britain, Britain. The history of that wall as well as the Roman Stanegate forms ...
.
Landmarks
Bellingham Bridge is a
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
built in 1834. It crosses the
North Tyne
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
.
Bellingham Town Hall was completed in 1862.
Two miles north-east at Hole Farm is the 16th century
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, Hole Bastle, a well-preserved example of a
bastle house
Bastel, bastle, or bastille houses are a type of construction found along the Anglo-Scottish border, in the areas formerly plagued by border reivers. They are fortified farmhouses, characterised by security measures against raids. Their name ...
.
Another example is Black Middens Bastle House which is situated in an isolated spot on the north side of the Tarset Valley. It is managed by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
Shitlington Crags is a crag near Shitlington Hall, south of Bellingham. The crag is at an average height of 170 metres. The Pennine Way passes by the crag.
There is a former Union Workhouse located along the main-street of Bellingham.
Notable residents
*Sir
David Lindsay Keir
Sir David Lindsay Keir (22 May 1895 – 2 October 1973) was a British historian and educator. From 1949 to 1965, he was Master of Balliol College, Oxford.
Life
Keir was born at Bellingham, Northumberland, the eldest of six children to William Ke ...
, the historian and academic, was born and bred here.
Governance
Bellingham is in the
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
constituency of
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 ...
.
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 Wor ...
of the
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 ...
is the
Member of Parliament
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 of ...
.
For
Local Government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
purposes it belongs to
Northumberland County Council
Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028.
History
It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of N ...
a
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
. An
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 ...
in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to the Scottish Border with a total population of 4,074. The incumbent Councillor of the Bellingham ward is John Riddle, who is a member of the Conservative Party.
Bellingham has its own
parish council; ''Bellingham Parish Council''.
Sports
The village football team competes in the Tyneside Amateur League First Division.
Tyneside Amateur League Division One: League Table
See also
* St Cuthbert's Well
References
External links
Hexham Courant
The Pennine Way Site
(Accessed: 1 November 2008)
(Accessed: 1 November 2008)
{{authority control
Villages in Northumberland
Civil parishes in Northumberland