The North Northumberland Coastal Plain is a major

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

that lies on

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's northeasternmost stretch of coastline 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 ...

. To the west lie the

Cheviot Fringe Cheviot Fringe ( ) is a geographical region and a Natural England designated National Character Area (or NCA) located in the county Northumberland in northern England. The region consists of the undulating lowlands between the Cheviot Hills and ...

, the

Northumberland Sandstone Hills The Northumberland Sandstone Hills are a major natural region in the English county of Northumberland. The hills form distinctive skylines with generally level tops, northwest facing scarps and craggy outcrops offering views to the Cheviots furth ...

and

Mid Northumberland Mid Northumberland NCA is a National Character Area in Northern England between the Northumberland Sandstone Hills and the North Northumberland Coastal Plain. It is bordered to the south by the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site. Ridges and rive ...

; to the south it is continued by the

South East Northumberland Coastal Plain South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. The North Northumberland Coastal Plain lies along the coast of the 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 include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

and is listed as Natural Area No. 1 and also as National Character Area 1 by Natural England, the UK government's advisor on the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, living and non-living things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not Artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. Th ...

in England. The region is a coastal strip, around 70 kilometres long and 3 to 10 kilometres wide, that runs from the

Scottish Border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The ...

to Amble on the

River Coquet The River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast at Amble. It rises in the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland, and follows a winding course across the l ...

. Its narrow, low lying, windswept terrain has wide views east towards the sea and west towards the Cheviots. The coastal scenery is diverse. The northern part has a 'hard' cliffed coast of spectacular high cliffs, offshore islands and rocky headlands, whilst the southern strip is a 'soft' alluvial coast of wide, sweeping sandy bays backed by sand dunes and intertidal flats backed by saltmarsh. Inland, the plain is

intensively farmed Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

, typically with open, mixed arable land and few trees. The valleys and coastal fringes are characterized by woodland and permanent pasture or semi-natural

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

.''North Northumberland Coastal Plain - Character Area 1''
at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 Apr 2013. Roughly a quarter of the NCA lies within the

Northumberland Coast The Northumberland Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the Northeast of England. Features include: Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Beadnell, Budle Bay, ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also within the North Northumberland Heritage Coast. The region contains four Special Areas of Conservation - Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast SAC; Newham Fen SAC; River Tweed SAC; and Tweed Estuary SAC – three national nature reserves – Lindisfarne NNR, Farne Islands NNR and Newham Bog NNR – and 15 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the latter totalling 1,296 hectares. Its major watercourses are the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

, which the latter section of the river forms the border with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the north, the

in the far south, Whiteadder Water and the River Aln.''NCA Profile: 01 North Northumberland Coastal Plain (NE516)''
at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 1 Aug 2014.

Holy Island Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

is an important historic site which incorporates Lindisfarne Castle and Priory. Other historic sites include

Bamburgh Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census. The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...

Dunstanburgh Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322, taking advantage of t ...

and Warkworth Castles.

References

Natural regions of England Landforms of Northumberland Plains of England Northumberland coast {{Northumberland-geo-stub