Bamburgh ( ) is a village 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 authorit ...

on the coast 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 ...

, 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 Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building. The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as ''Din Guarie'' and may have ...

, a castle which was the seat of the former

Kings of Northumbria Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by king Æthelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional ...

, and for its association with 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 ...

heroine

Grace Darling Grace Horsley Darling (24 November 1815 – 20 October 1842) was an English lighthouse keeper's daughter. Her participation in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked ''Forfarshire'' in 1838 brought her national fame. The paddlesteamer ...

, who is buried there. The extensive beach by the village was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005. The

Bamburgh Dunes Bamburgh Dunes are a region of coastal sand dunes with an area of over 40 hectares situated around the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. The dunes, which stand in the shadow of the impressive Bamburgh Castle, have been a Site of Spec ...

, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, stand behind the beach. Bamburgh is popular with holidaymakers and is 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 An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

History

The site now occupied by

was previously home to a fort of the Celtic Britons known as ''Din Guarie'' and may have been the capital of the kingdom of

Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...

, the realm of the

Gododdin The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...

people, from the realm's foundation in c. 420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year, the

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

was captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler

Ida of Bernicia Ida () (died c. 559) is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxo ...

(Beornice) and became Ida's seat. The Anglo-Saxons called the place ''Bebbanburg'', meaning "Queen Bebba's stronghold"; this was later corrupted into the modern "Bamburgh".

Aidan of Lindisfarne Aidan of Lindisfarne ( ga, Naomh Aodhán; died 31 August 651) was an Irish monk and missionary credited with converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity in Northumbria. He founded a monastic cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne, known as Lindi ...

came to this area from the monastery of Iona in 635 on behalf of King Oswald of Northumbria. Following the defeat of Northumbrian forces by the Viking

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...

, at York in 867, the united Kingdom of Northumbria disintegrated. The limited evidence available suggests that north-east Northumbria – centred on the future County Durham,

and Lothian – remained an independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, with Bamburgh its de facto capital. (During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, southern Northumbria was controlled by Vikings in the form of the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...

, while north-west Northumbria became part of the late British

kingdom of Strathclyde Strathclyde (lit. " Strath of the River Clyde", and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as ...

.) The late medieval village began to develop near the castle. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries the property of the friars, including the castle, were seized on behalf of Henry VIII. Late medieval British author

Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of ''Le Morte d'Ar ...

identified Bamburgh Castle with

Joyous Gard Joyous Gard (French ''Joyeuse Garde'' and other variants) is a castle featured in the Matter of Britain literature of the legend of King Arthur. It was introduced in the 13th-century French Prose ''Lancelot'' as the home and formidable fortress ...

, the mythical castle home of

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

St Aidan's Church

According to Bede, St Aidan built a wooden church outside the castle wall in AD 635, and he died here in AD 652. A wooden beam preserved inside the church is traditionally said to be the one on which he rested as he died. The present church dates from the late 12th century, though some pre-

conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

stonework survives in the north aisle. The chancel, said to be the second-longest in the country (60 ft; 18m), was added in 1230; it contains an 1895 reredos in

Caen stone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...

by W.S. Hicks, depicting northern saints of the 7th and 8th centuries. There is a effigy of local heroine

in the North Aisle. This formed part of the original Monument to Grace Darling but was removed due to weathering of the stonework. Her memorial is sited in the churchyard in such a position that passing ships can see it. The property has been Grade I listed since December 1969. The listing summary includes this description:

"Parish church. C12, C13 and C14. Restored 1830 and later C19. Squared stone and ashlar; chancel and north transept have stone slate roofs; other roofs not visible. West tower, nave, aisles, transepts and chancel".

Note that after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid 1500s, the monks were forced to leave and St Aidan's became the parish church for the village. Over the subsequent centuries major repairs and restorations have been completed. The church's crypt holds the remains of 110 individuals who died in the 7th and 8th centuries; they had initially been buried in the castle's Bowl Hole graveyard. The remains were found during a project between 1998 and 2007. Finally, in 2016, they were moved into the crypt. Since November 2019, the crypt can be viewed by visitors through a small gate.

Governance

An electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward includes Belford and also stretches south to Ellingham with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 4,846.

In popular culture

Bamburgh Castle, under its Saxon name Bebbanburg, is the home of Uhtred, the main character in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

's ''

The Saxon Stories ''The Saxon Stories'' (also known as ''Saxon Tales''/''Saxon Chronicles'' in the US and ''The Warrior Chronicles'' and most recently as ''The Last Kingdom'' series) is a historical novel series written by Bernard Cornwell about the birth of E ...

'' In the Netflix series of Cornwell's books,

The Last Kingdom ''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assimilated ...

, Bamburgh is the hereditary seat of protagonist Uhtred Ragnarson, a Saxon heir apparent usurped by his uncle Ælfric. The series follows Uhtred's attempts to re-establish his rightful status as ealderman of Bamburgh. Bamburgh is also featured in the open-world video game series

Forza Horizon 4 ''Forza Horizon 4'' is a 2018 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on 2 October 2018 for Windows and Xbox One after being announced at Xbox's E3 2018 conference. An enhanced version ...

released in October 2018. Additionally, Bamburgh is featured in the Realtime Strategy video game Ancestors Legacy released in 2018.

Notable people

Æthelfrith of Northumbria Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nort ...

William George Armstrong William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor ...

Joe Baker-Cresswell Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Addison Joe Baker-Cresswell Distinguished Service Order, DSO (2 February 1901 – 4 March 1997) was a Royal Navy officer, aide-de-camp to George VI of the United Kingdom, King George VI and High Sheriff of Northumb ...

Prideaux John Selby Prideaux John Selby FRSE FLS (23 July 1788 – 27 March 1867) was an English ornithologist, botanist and natural history artist. Life Selby was born in Bondgate Street in Alnwick in Northumberland, the eldest son of George Selby of Beal a ...

Uhtred the Bold Uhtred of Bamburgh (sometimes Uchtred); died c. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family the Eadwulfings had ruled the surroun ...

Photo gallery

File:Bamburgh from the castle - geograph.org.uk - 72471.jpg, Bamburgh village and surroundings File:Bamburgh - geograph.org.uk - 42007.jpg, Bamburgh seen from the castle File:The Grace Darling memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1263594.jpg, Grace Darling memorial in the churchyard File:The Grace Darling Museum - geograph.org.uk - 1263588.jpg, The Grace Darling Museum, opposite the church File:Crossroads in Bamburgh - geograph.org.uk - 344623.jpg, Crossroads in the village, looking towards the castle Image:Bamburgh castle268.jpg, Beach and castle, looking south Image:Bamburgh map 1947.jpg, A map of Bamburgh from 1947

Bamburgh Lighthouse

References

External links

Bamburgh Photos

Local History and Information on Bamburgh, The Farne Islands and surrounding areas.

Photos by Peter Loud

Bamburgh Online

(Accessed: 5 November 2008)

(Accessed: 5 November 2008)
Trinity House
{{authority control Villages in Northumberland Capitals of former nations Populated coastal places in Northumberland Civil parishes in Northumberland