Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a quaint seaside town 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 ...
, England, located on the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
coast. The town owes its proud heritage to having once flourished as an important trade route for shipping
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
from its port, as well as the
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
produced from its
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
. Ensuring that traditions are inherited through the generations, the original coal mine was converted into the
Woodhorn Museum and heritage centre, which celebrates local art and historic
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s. The
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
found in and around
Ashington's seafront town is reminiscent of the past, paying homage to its original cottages, seeing them renovated into semi-modern
B&Bs along the bay. Home to
Sean Henry's infamou
Couple Sculpturedepicting a man and woman standing on a steel structure, staring out over the horizon, the
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
is also well known for it
idyllic beachas a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
.
Name
Newbiggin derives its name from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''nīwe'' (new) +
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
''bigging'' (building, house), and may refer to an extension of the early settlement and
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of
Woodhorn
Woodhorn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Newbiggin by the Sea, in Northumberland, England, about east of Ashington. In 1931 the parish had a population of 219. The village is sometimes identified with Wucestre, given ...
.
Early history
The church was for centuries a chapel only, with a tower surmounted by a spire which was originally used as a beacon.
[ In the 14th century, Newbiggin was a very important maritime centre, called upon to support ]Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
in his campaigns against the Scots. In the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, Newbiggin was a major port for the shipping of grain, third in importance after London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and Hull. Henry III granted a charter for a weekly market on Monday and an annual fair; in 1337, as a borough of note, it sent bailiff
A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
s to a council on matters of state, convened by the Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...
, the Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick.
Overview
The first creation c ...
and other noblemen.
1800 – present
In 1805, two boats, with nineteen men, were lost in a storm off Newbiggin, after which £1,700 was donated by fundraising in the 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 ...
region to relieve the bereaved families. As early as 1828, Newbiggin was a popular beach resort, with facilities to cater for visitors. The town had five public houses, one of which had a spa-like array of bathing facilities, several shops and lodging houses.[ The village featured a shore, which, being a fine smooth beach about a mile in length, was well suited for bathing, and, by 1848, was much frequented in warmer seasons.][ Several well-built guesthouses took hold. The bay gave good anchorage for small vessels, but even then was very little used, except for the numerous boats belonging to the fishery, in which most of the inhabitants were employed. The plentiful fish caught were herring, cod, ling, haddock, salmon, trout, turbot, halibut, soles, lobsters and crabs, not only for the supply of the neighbouring markets but the region; and buildings for the curing of herrings.]
Governance
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea has a town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
.
Under the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea became part of the local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
of Wansbeck in 1974. The local government district was abolished in 2009, with its responsibilities transferred to the Northumberland County Council 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 ...
.
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is in the UK Parliamentary constituency of Wansbeck, which since the 2010 General Election has been represented at Westminster by Ian Lavery
Ian Lavery (born 6 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wansbeck since 2010. He served as the Chair of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn from 2017 to 2020 and was President ...
MP. Wansbeck is one of Northumberland's four Parliamentary constituencies.
The former local government district of Wansbeck and the Parliamentary constituency of Wansbeck both derive their names from the River Wansbeck
The River Wansbeck runs through the county of Northumberland, England. It rises above Sweethope Lake, Lough on the edge of Fourlaws Forest in the area known locally as The Wanneys (Great Wanney Crag, Little Wanney Crag; thus the "Wanneys Beck") ...
which flows into the North Sea near Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Economy
Fishing has always been associated with Newbiggin, although later many inhabitants were employed in coal mining. By the Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, Newbiggin was Northumberland's favourite seaside town, attracting hundreds of visitors every day in the summer months.
In 1869, there were 142 coble
The coble is a type of open traditional fishing boat which developed on the North East coast of England. The southernmost examples occur around Hull (although Cooke drew examples at Yarmouth, see his ''Shipping and Craft''
series of drawings ...
s (fishing boats) in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Newbiggin Colliery was sunk in 1908. The colliery closed in 1967, but at its peak in 1940, 1,400 men were employed there. The former Newbiggin Colliery Band is now the Jayess Newbiggin Brass Band, named for its president and former member, cornet legend James Shepherd.
To date, there are 89 active companies based in Newbiggin.
Landmarks
The town was at the end of the first telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
cable from Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
in 1868, and was laid from Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
. Attractions in Newbiggin today include the 13th-century parish church,["Church of St Bartholomew"](_blank)
British Listed Buildings website, Retrieved 27 December 2012 and the flagship Newbiggin Maritime Centre, which has replaced the former heritage centre at a cost of £3 million.
The lifeboat station
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inf ...
was opened in 1851 following a fishing disaster in which ten Newbiggin fishermen lost their lives in stormy seas. It is the oldest operational boathouse in the British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
. Celebrating over 160 years as a lifeboat station, Newbiggin has had 13 different station lifeboats over the years; today it operates an inshore Atlantic 85 lifeboat. The crews have been presented with 16 awards for gallantry.
A £10 million renovation to rebuild and improve Newbiggin's rapidly eroding beach involved importing 500,000 tonnes of sand from Skegness
Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...
, delivered by the trailing suction hopper dredger
A trailing suction hopper dredger is a ship that has a full sailing capacity used to maintain navigable waterways, deepening the maritime canals that are threatened to become silted, to construct new land elsewhere or to replace sand eroded by s ...
(TSHD) ''Oranje'' and deposited on the beach through a pipe approximately in diameter. A new offshore breakwater was installed to accompany the matching breakwater on the opposite side of the bay. Also installed is a brass statue by sculptor Sean Henry named Couple, anchored in the centre of the bay.
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea boasts the longest promenade in Northumberland. Each spring and autumn, the promenade becomes a prime location for naturalists watching the North Sea seabird migratory passage.
Religious sites
The 13th century Parish Church of St Bartholomew, bleakly situated against a North Sea backdrop at Church Point, contains a notable collection of medieval gravestones. Eight complete cross slab grave covers have been reset in the walls of the north aisle which was rebuilt in 1912. The chancel, the east and western bays of arcades and the west tower are all 13th century, while the spire dates to the 14th century.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Woodhorn
Woodhorn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Newbiggin by the Sea, in Northumberland, England, about east of Ashington. In 1931 the parish had a population of 219. The village is sometimes identified with Wucestre, given ...
(commonly known as 'Woodhorn Church') is the oldest building in Wansbeck, with parts dating back to the 11th century, but has not functioned as a church since 1973. In recent decades, the building has housed at various times a museum and artists' studios. Newbiggin Town Council has set up the Woodhorn Church Working Group to discuss the future use of the now vacant building.
Woodhorn Church was once the mother church in the Parish of Woodhorn with Newbiggin. When she was declared redundant in 1973, that role passed to St Bartholomew's.
The Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
has had a presence in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea since 1902 and its current premises consist of a worship hall on Front Street, opened in 1939, and a community hall on Vernon Place. The Salvation Army band features in the recollections of those who have grown up in Newbiggin or spent summer holidays there. Mary Heynes, who in her childhood was once head girl at the former West Junior School in Newbiggin, recalls that in the 1960s, "The Salvation Army would be on the Quay wall every Sunday doing a service and the band would play."[Heynes, Mary (2012). "My Family: A memory of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in Northumberland, shared on Sunday, 15th July 2012"](_blank)
Francis Frith antiquarian website, Retrieved 27 December 2012 In 1991 the Newbiggin-by-the-Sea Salvation Army Songster Brigade (the choir) recorded songs for BBC Radio.
St Mark's Church on Gibson Street was built in 1868 by the local stonemason William Gibson. Once a busy Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
church, after the 1972 union of the Presbyterian and Congregational denominations in England St Mark's became a United Reformed
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
Origins and history
The United Reformed Church resulte ...
church. St Mark's has now closed to worship. St Andrew's Methodist Chapel on Front Street was built in 1876. In 2010, the United Reformed and Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
congregations in Newbiggin combined to form a single congregation in the South East Northumberland Ecumenical Area, meeting at St Andrew's which is now known as St Andrew's and St Mark's (Methodist/United Reformed) Church.
Prior to the building of St Andrew's in 1876, the Methodists used to meet in the Wesleyan Chapel on Robinson Square, which was built in 1844. In the early 20th century, the Robinson Square building was used by the Salvation Army before the Salvation Army acquired its current premises.
The Apostolic Church, whose beginnings can be traced to South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
during the 1904-05 Welsh Revival, arrived in Newbiggin in 1936, initially hiring a room above the Co-operative store which still stands on Cleveland Terrace. Subsequently, the Apostolic Church acquired a building at 15–17 Gibson Street, but this closed to worship in 2010 and now houses the Newbiggin Boxing Club gym. After a long association with Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (Mary Heynes, former head girl of the West Junior School, reports that her father was an Apostolic preacher in the 1960s), the Apostolic Church now has no congregation in the town.
St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, a small building on Front Street, is part of the Parish of St Aidan's in Ashington.
Summer fair
Until 2004 Newbiggin was host to a street fair that attracted thousands of people every year. In its final years, the fair was set out in the following format: starting at the beginning of the shopping area of Front Street, up to the Cresswell Arms public house flowing into Church Point car park and continuing along the seafront promenade. The lifeboat house and boatyard became the music venue. A stage replaced the boats and the lifeboat house opened its doors, serving food and afternoon tea. Appearances were made by Slade
Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...
, Leo Sayer
Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...
and TV show ''Gladiators
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'' star Michael Van Wijk
Michael Van Wijk (born 30 September 1952) is an Indian-born English bodybuilder, professional sportsperson, actor and TV presenter. He is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show ''Gladiators'', a role he hel ...
.
Starting in 2010, the annual Old Ship Music Festival is attempting to bring back a summer event to the village. It invites bands from the region and worldwide to play, as well as local comedians, and raises money for charity with the help of local businesses. In 2010 it raised £700 for Help for Heroes, where in 2011, the chosen charity was the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is a British cancer research charity which raises money to fund the early detection and treatment of cancer, and clinical trials of anti-cancer drugs. Based in the North East of England, the Foundation was launche ...
, and raised £1,100.
Notable people
John Braine
John Gerard Braine (13 April 1922 – 28 October 1986) was an English novelist. Braine is usually listed among the angry young men, a loosely defined group of English writers who emerged on the literary scene in the 1950s.
Biography
John Brain ...
was working at the library in Newbiggin (1954–56) when he wrote his best-selling novel '' Room at the Top''.
References
External links
Visit Newbiggin - The Official Visitor website for Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
Newbiggin Town Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newbiggin-By-The-Sea
Seaside resorts in England
Towns in Northumberland
Populated coastal places in Northumberland
Civil parishes in Northumberland