Thropton is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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

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 ...

, and its

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

Wreigh Burn. With a population of 458 ( 2011 census) it is situated west of the village of

Rothbury Rothbury is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is northwest of Morpeth, Northumberland, Morpeth and of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2001 Ce ...

connected by the B6431 near the junction of the Wreigh Burn and the

. In the hamlet is a stone bridge over the Wreigh Burn which was built in 1811. Thropton is on the edge of

Northumberland National Park Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall, and it is one of least visited of the National Parks. The park ...

, and the surrounding area north and south of the hamlet consists of haughs, and also to the south on the opppisite side of the Coquet lies

Simonside Hills The Simonside Hills are a hill range in Northumberland, England near the town of Rothbury. Most of the hills are around high and are popular spots for hikers in the area. The highest point is Tosson Hill at . There are several single pitch roc ...

, a hill range that has many crags dotted along it.

Amenities

The post office closed in approximately 2018, likewise the small village shop in which it was located, and the adjacent vehicle repair garage also closed - as at November 2020 the land is currently vacant. In November 2022 a

SPAR SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

opened in Thropton, the shop has a floor area of 3,000 sq. ft. and has a four-pump forecourt operated by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

. The

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...

Shell sign has caused a row over light pollution due to Thropton being on the edge of Northumberland National Park which is a

dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. However, astronomy is certainly not the only obje ...

, however a poll on a community Facebook page showed that 98% to 99% of residents did not think the sign was a problem . The row has been reported by the national media, including an article in the ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' and a mention on ''

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

''. Thropton has two pubs: the Cross Keys and the Three Wheat Heads, a 300-year-old

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...

Landmarks

A little over a mile to the south of the village are the ruins of Great Tosson Tower, a

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

probably built in the late fifteenth century and later used as part of a system of watch towers designed to curb the activities of 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 ...

. A short distance from Great Tosson is Tosson lime kiln, designed by architect George Reavell in 1888, disused and restored in appearance by Northumberland National Park Authority. The site has a small car park and picnic site, and has fine views across the valley to Thropton main village and

. An information board at the site relates how a cow once fell down inside it.

Geography

Thropton has the B6431 running though, with the majority of the hamlet based along the road. Thropton also had two C roads, the C176 road from Thropton to Netherton via

Snitter Snitter is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is near the Northumberland National Park. The closest town is Rothbury. Governance Snitter is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, represented by Ann-M ...

connects to the B6341, and is connected to the C178 running from Thropton to Whittingham via

Cartington Cartington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thropton, in Northumberland, England. It is about south west of Alnwick, and about north west of Rothbury. In 2019 it had an adult population of 95, after having returned ...

Culture

On the third Saturday in September Thropton holds its annual village show. The show is in field on next to the junction of the C176 road from Thropton to

, and the C178 from Thropton to

. leading from Thropton to Netherton. Alongside local trade and craft stalls, the show also has a Northumbrian

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

, and

fell race Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

where runners run to and up the Simonside Hills and back. The village show started in 1915 and 2015 the centenary was celebrated.

Transport

Thropton is the terminus for the X14 Thropton - Rothbury -

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

bus which is a lifeline to the rural community, with many services continuing towards

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 ...

. It is currently operated by Arriva Northumbria and was formerly operated by Go North East.

References

Villages in Northumberland {{Northumberland-geo-stub