Kielder is a small, remote village in western Northumberland, England. Located at the head of

Kielder Water Kielder Water is a large man-made reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, one of the biggest man-made woodlands in E ...

and in the north west of Kielder Forest, the village is within of the Scottish border.

History

There was early settlement around

Kielder Castle Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland, England, surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest man-made woodland in England with three-quarters of its covered by forest. The majority ...

, a hunting lodge built by the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. Previous settlements were expanded in the 1950s by the Forestry Commission who constructed housing to accommodate the workers employed in the planting of Kielder Forest. Most of this housing has now been sold back to the private sector.

Governance

Kielder is in the parliamentary 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 ...

. Until 1 April 2009 it was within Tynedale local government district, but following local government restructuring in Northumberland the county is now covered by a unitary authority,

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 ...

Geography

It is claimed that Kielder has the lowest level of light pollution in England – hence the construction nearby of

Kielder Observatory Kielder Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, England. It is situated high upon Black Fell overlooking Kielder Water near the Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separat ...

Climate

As with most low-lying locations in the British Isles, Kielder experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. There is a Met Office weather station at Kielder Castle. Since 1960, reported temperatures have ranged from in January 1982 to recorded during the 2022 European heat wave. This record high temperature broke the previous record high by more than 5 °C (9 °F).

Demography

The population of Kielder in 2001 was 207.

Economy

The economy of Kielder has relied on forestry but now also incorporates tourism. Prior to the 20th century the economy of Kielder revolved around sheep farming. The use of the area as a hunting ground by the Dukes of Northumberland added an extra element to the area. Due to its location close to the border with Scotland, there was a black economy concerned with the smuggling of whisky from Scotland to England.

Forestry

The Forestry Act 1919 established the Forestry Commission with a purpose of forming a strategic reserve of timber for the country. The first plantings at Kielder were in 1926 when of coniferous trees were planted. A further were purchased in 1932 and today of forest are under Forestry Commission control. Although timber production remains an integral part of the forestry operation, it also has the aims of encouraging the public to use the forest as an educational resource and to sustain and enhance wildlife conservation. Over 50% of the

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...

population of England is now found in the forest.

Tourism

With the creation of Kielder Water in 1982 great strides have been taken to develop the area as a tourist destination with the establishment of facilities such as Leaplish Waterside Park by Northumbrian Water, which offers both accommodation and recreational facilities, the

and various artworks in the landscape, such as the Kielder Skyspace.

Transport

Kielder was served by

Kielder railway station Kielder railway station is a closed railway station that served the village hamlet of Kielder, Northumberland. History Kielder railway station was on the Border Counties Railway which linked the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, near Hexham, w ...

on the

Border Counties Railway The Border Counties Railway was a railway line connecting in Northumberland, with on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire. Its promoter had hopes of exploiting mineral resources in the area, and it was taken up by the North British Railway, ...

which linked the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, near

, with the

Border Union Railway The Border Union Railway was a railway line which connected places in the south of Scotland and Cumberland in England. It was authorised on 21 July 1859 and advertised as the Waverley Route by the promoters - the North British Railway.Awdry (199 ...

at Riccarton Junction. The first section of the route was opened between

and

Chollerford Chollerford is a village in Northumberland, England, approximately four miles (seven km) north of Hexham (via the A6079 road) on the B6318, the Military Road, not far from Hadrian's Wall. There is a roundabout in the village where the B6318 and B ...

in 1858, the remainder opening in 1862. The line was closed to passengers by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in 1956. The station building, now a private house, still stands here by the 'Station Garage'. The station was renamed Kielder Forest in 1948. The Kielder Reservoir now floods much of the route eastwards to Falstone, but a very fine castellated

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

near Kielder Castle still stands. About east from here the line is obliterated as its route is now reservoir and some scouring and embankment removal has removed the traces of its course. Slightly further east its course would be below today's water level.

Education

The village is served by Kielder Community First School. In the academic year 2009–10 this has a roll of nine pupils aged 4 to 9. Children aged 9 to 13 attend Bellingham Middle School and from 13 to 18, Haydon Bridge High School. As the high school is a considerable distance away the option to board at the school exists.

Religious sites

Kielder lies within the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish of Falstone with

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.

Public services

Within the village there is a pub and a post office.

Notes

External links

Northumberland Communities
(Accessed: 11 March 2009) {{authority control Villages in Northumberland