Norham ( ) is a village and
civil parish in
Northumberland, England, It is located south-west of
Berwick on the south side of the
River Tweed where it is the border with Scotland.
History
Its ancient name was Ubbanford.
Ecgred of Lindisfarne
Ecgred of Lindisfarne (or Egfrid) was Bishop of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a ...
(d.845) replaced a wooden church with one of stone, translated the relics of St. Ceolwulf here. Norham is mentioned as the resting-place 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 Nor ...
in the early eleventh century text ''
On the Resting-Places of the Saints'', and recent research has suggested the possibility that Norham (rather than
Chester-le-Street or
Durham) may have been the centre of the
diocese of Lindisfarne from the ninth century until some time between 1013 and 1031.
It is the site of the 12th-century
Norham Castle, and was for many years the centre for the
Norhamshire exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
. It was transferred to Northumberland in 1844.
It was on the Tweed here that
Edward I of England met the Scots nobility in 1292 to decide on the future king of Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott gained fame as a poet, particularly with ''
Marmion'' set around the
Battle of Flodden in 1513. It begins:
::::''Day set on Norham's castled steep,''
::::''And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep,
::::''And Cheviot's mountains lone:''
::::''The battled towers, the donjon keep,
::::''The loophole grates where captives weep,''
::::''The flanking walls that round it sweep,''
::::''In yellow lustre shone.''
The 19th-century
Ladykirk and Norham Bridge is a late stone
road bridge that connects the village with
Ladykirk in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...
.
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
reportedly tipped his hat to Norham Castle in 1831, as it was the place which had brought him fame as an artist in 1798. It was a subject he revisited throughout his career. The painting of the castle which hangs in
Tate Britain, ''
Norham Castle, Sunrise'' (1845), luminously near-abstract, is one of the great treasures of the collection.
Norham railway station, built 1851, closed in 1965 and was turned into a museum by its final station master, Peter Short. In 2013 it was up for sale at an asking price of £420,000.
Governance
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 name of Norham and Islandshires exists. This ward stretches south east to just short of
Bamburgh and has a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,438.
Popular culture
Norham appears, under the name of Ubbanford, in ''The Bernicia Chronicles'' series of historical novels by Matthew Harffy, where it is the residence and seat of power of the series' protagonist, Beobrand.
See also
*
Ladykirk and Norham Bridge
*
Norham Castle
References
External links
GENUKI(Accessed: 20 November 2008)
{{authority control
Villages in Northumberland
Populated places on the River Tweed
Civil parishes in Northumberland