Hexham ( ) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 ...

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, on the south bank of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

nearby, and close to

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

. Hexham was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. In 2011, it had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 13,097. Smaller towns and villages around Hexham include Corbridge, Riding Mill, Stocksfield and Wylam to the east, Acomb and Bellingham to the north, Allendale to the south and Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle to the west.

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 ...

is to the east and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

to the west.

History

Hexham Abbey originated as a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

founded by Wilfrid in 674. The crypt of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

, probably Corbridge or

. The current Hexham Abbey dates largely from the 11th century onward, but was significantly rebuilt in the 19th century. Other notable buildings in the town include the Moot Hall, the covered market, and the Old Gaol. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'' (Manuscript D: Cotton Tiberius B IV) records the murder of King Ælfwald by

Sicga Sicga (died 22 February 793) (also given as Siga and Sigha) was a nobleman in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Sicga first appears in the historical record as senior lay witness to the proceedings of a council held by Papal Legate, George, ...

at ''Scythlecester'' (which may be modern Chesters) on 23 September 788:

This year Alfwald, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by Siga, on the ninth day before the
calends The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a ...
of October; and a heavenly light was often seen on the spot where he was slain. He was buried at Hexham in the church.
''Her wæs Alfwald Norðhymbra cyning ofslægen fram Sigan on .viiii. Kalendas Octobris, 7 heofonlic leoht wæs lome gesewen þær þær he ofslægen wæs, 7 he wæs bebyrged on Hagustaldesee innan þære cyrican.''

The name of Hexham derives 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 settlers in the mid-5th ...

''Hagustaldes ea'' and later ''Hagustaldes ham'' whence the modern form (with the "-ham" element) derives. ''Hagustald'' is related to the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

''hagustalt'', denoting a younger son who takes land outside the settlement; the element ''ea'' means "stream" or "river" and ''ham'' is the Old English form of the Modern English "home" (and the Scots and Northern English "hame"). Like many towns in the Anglo-Scottish border area and adjacent regions, Hexham suffered from the border wars between the kingdoms of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, including attacks from William Wallace who burnt the town in 1297. In 1312,

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

, King of Scotland, demanded and received £2000 from the town and monastery in order for them to be spared a similar fate. In 1346 the monastery was sacked in a later invasion led by King David II of Scotland. In 1464 during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

, the Battle of Hexham was fought somewhere to the south of the town; the actual site is disputed. The defeated Lancastrian commander, Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, was executed in Hexham marketplace. There is a legend that Queen Margaret of Anjou took refuge after the battle in what is known as The Queen's Cave, where she was accosted by a robber; the legend formed the basis for an 18th-century play by

George Colman the Younger George Colman (21 October 1762 – 17 October 1836), known as "the Younger", was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. He was the son of George Colman the Elder. Life He passed from Westminster School to Christ Church, Oxford, an ...

(''The Battle of Hexham: A Comedy in Three Acts''); but it has been established that Queen Margaret had fled to France by the time the battle took place. The Queen's Cave in question is on the south side of the West Dipton Burn, to the southwest of Hexham. Stmaryschurchhexham peter brooks

Until 1572, Hexham was the administrative centre of the former Liberty or Peculiar of Hexhamshire. In 1715, James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, raised the standard for

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

in Hexham Market place. The rising, however, was unsuccessful, and Derwentwater was captured and beheaded after the Battle of Preston. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hexham was a centre of the leather trade, particularly renowned for making gloves known as Hexham Tans—now the name of a vegetarian restaurant in the town. ''"Hexham"'' was used in the Borders as a

euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

for "

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

". Hence the term ''"To Hexham wi' you an' ye’r whussel!"'', recorded in 1873, and the popular expression "Gang to Hexham!". ''"Hexham-birnie"'' is derived from the term and means ''"an indefinitely remote place"''.''The Roxburghshire word-book: being a record of the special vernacular vocabulary of the county of Roxburgh, with an appendix of specimens'' by George Watson, The University Press, 1923. p. 170

Hexham riot

In 1761, the

Hexham Riot Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administr ...

took place in the Market Place when a crowd protesting about changes in the criteria for serving in the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

were fired upon by troops from the North Yorkshire Militia. Fifty-one protesters were killed, earning the Militia the sobriquet of The Hexham Butchers.

Notable buildings

Hexham's architectural landscape is dominated by Hexham Abbey. The current church largely dates from c. 1170–1250, in the

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

style of

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 buildings ...

. The choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period. The east end was rebuilt in 1860. The abbey stands at the west end of the market place, which is home to the Shambles, a Grade II* covered market built in 1766 by Sir Walter Blackett. Hexham_Old_Gaol

At the east end of the market place stands the Moot Hall, and a C15th gatehouse that was part of the defences of the town. The Moot Hall is a Grade I listed building, built c. AD 1400, and is considered one of the best examples of a medieval courthouse in the north of England. It was used as a courthouse until 1838. The Moot Hall now houses the Council offices of the Museums Department, though not open to the public any relevant enquiries can be made on the first floor. The ground floor is an art gallery open to hire. The Old Gaol, behind the Moot Hall on Hallgates, was one of the first purpose-built jails in England. It was built between 1330 and 1333 and is a Grade I listed Scheduled Monument. It was ordered to be built by the Archbishop of York. The building is now home to the Old Gaol museum which informs the visitor about how the prisoners were kept at this time and how they were punished. There is also information concerning the local families of the time, such as the Charlton and Fenwick families who still have descendants living in the area. There are many different displays in the museum of interest to the whole family. The museum also contains the Border History Library, where people are free to visit to research their family history. Hexham, Queen's Hall (geograph 5616173)

Hexham Library and the Queen's Hall Art Centre can both be found in the Queen's Hall. The building contains the Brough Local Studies Collection which is the second-largest local history collection in the county. The Hencotes drill hall was completed in 1891. The Leazes on Shaws Lane is a Grade II listed mansion built in 1853 by John Dobson for William Kinsopp.

Governance

Hexham is in the

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

constituency of Hexham.

Guy Opperman Guy Thomas Opperman (born 18 May 1965) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Employment since October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion at the Department for Wor ...

has been the member of parliament for Hexham since May 2010. The town comes under Northumberland County Council and contains three wards: Hexham Central with Acomb, Hexham East and Hexham West.

Local media

The ''Hexham Courant'' is the local newspaper, serving Hexham and Tynedale since 1864. It was first launched by J. Catherall & Co., and at that time espoused the Liberal cause. It later absorbed the Conservative-supporting ''Hexham Herald''. In 1977, CN Group acquired the newspaper. From within the ''Hexham Courant'' office a webcam over-looking Hexham Abbey can be viewed on the following website:
Hexham Courant
' BBC Newcastle radio covers Hexham. Horse racing from the town's course on Yarridge Heights is regularly featured on telecasts by Racing UK and other selected broadcasters. Regular sound broadcasts of cricket commentary for Tynedale CC can be heard via the internet during summer on Spreaker Internet Radio.

Education

Hexham is served by state first, middle and high schools and uses the three-tier system as does the rest of Northumberland. Queen Elizabeth High School, partly located in a former hydropathic hotel, is the town's major educational centre. The nearest independent school is

Mowden Hall School Mowden Hall School is a co-educational day and boarding preparatory school in the parish of Bywell, in Stocksfield, Northumberland, England approximately west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has been part of the Prep Schools Trust since 2007 and ...

, a prep school located away in Stocksfield.

Transport

Air

The nearest airport to Hexham is Newcastle International Airport, which is located around away by road.

Carlisle Lake District Airport Carlisle Lake District Airport is a regional airport located east north-east of Carlisle, England. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the passenger terminal has been closed as from the 1st of April 2020 "until further notice". Carlisle has a CA ...

and Teesside International Airport are located around away by road, respectively.

Rail

The town is served by Hexham, a station on the Tyne Valley Line. It is situated on part of the original Newcastle and Carlisle Railway route, dating back to 1837, and links the city of

with

. The line follows the course of the

through

. Services on the Tyne Valley Line are currently operated by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...

. As of the December 2019 timetable change, the station is served by a twice-hourly service heading west towards

, and three trains per hour heading east towards Newcastle.

Road

Hexham is served by the

A69 road The A69 is a major northern trunk road in England, running east–west across the Pennines, through the counties of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria. Originally, the road started in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne then later near Bi ...

, which runs for from

. This road serves as an alternative to the original route, the A695, which runs from Hexham to Newcastle upon Tyne, serving Corbridge, Stocksfield, Prudhoe and

Blaydon Blaydon is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, and historically in County Durham. Blaydon, and neighbouring Winlaton, which Blaydon is now contiguous with, form the postal town of Blaydon-on-Tyne. The Blay ...

Hexham Bus Station

The original bus was located at Priestpopple, dating back to the 1930s. In November 2016, the bus station was relocated to its current site at Dene Avenue – at a cost of £2.28 million. Go North East provide most services in and around Hexham, with local services operating under the Tynedale Links brand. The AD122 tourist bus service operates year-round with increased services during the summer months, serving a number of locations along

, as well as the

of Haltwhistle. Memorably, the route number, AD122, is the date of the building of the wall. , the stand allocation is:

Awards

Hexham won the town award in the 2005 '' Britain in Bloom'' awards. In the same year, it was also named ''England's Favourite Market Town'' by the magazine '' Country Life''. Hexham was voted the happiest place to live in Britain, 2019 and 2021.

Economy

The major employer in Hexham is Egger (UK) Limited. Hexham had been long famous for its manufacture of leather. Wright (1823) gives some statistics

77 men & boys employed as Leather dressers and Glove-cutters, 40 boys employed as Dusters and 1,111 women employed as Sewers. Skins dressed annually were 80,000, and 18,000 skins of dressed leather were imported. From these were made and exported annually 23,504 dozens of pairs of gloves. Dutch Oker was used in the processing, but local fell clay could be used if necessary.

Tanning was a necessary allied industry and there were four tanneries, employing a score of men. In a year they dealt with 5,000 hides and 12,000 calf skins. They supplied local saddlers, bootmakers and cobblers. Hexham also had 16 master hatters, and the trade employed 40 persons. There were two woollen manufactories, worked by steam power, and two rope manufactories. There were corn water mills below the bridge. A windmill on the Sele was ruinous, but there was one still working on Tyne Green. It was, and still is a flourishing market, including a mart for cattle and other farm animals. In Hexham the

Subskimmer The Subskimmer is a Diver Propulsion Vehicle which is a form of RIB (inflatable boat) with an outboard petrol (gasoline) engine. It is equipped to inflate and deflate itself as it runs. When submerged it seals its engine and runs with battery-e ...

was designed and made by Submarine Products. The town is also the site of a chipboard factory owned by the Austrian firm

Egger Egger may mean: *Egger Island, an island in Greenland *Egger-bahn; model railway manufacturer * Easter egger *Egger (company); wood based panel manufacturer * Egger (surname) * Egger (band), was active in 2005 See also *Ecker The Ecker is a ...

Retail Products GmbH, which vents steam which can be seen from miles away. Botanical brewery

Fentimans Fentimans is a botanical brewery based in Hexham, Northumberland, England. History Thomas Fentiman, an iron puddler from Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, acquired a recipe for botanically brewed ginger beer in 1905 when a fellow tradesman approa ...

is based in Hexham.

Shopping

Hexham has many shops commonly found in other English market-towns, with four central supermarkets ( Tesco,

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

, Marks and Spencer and

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

), multiple clothes shops, charity shops, banks, estate agents, antique shops and chemists. Cafes and coffee shops are also common in Hexham, from commercial chains ( Costa) to family run independents.

Sport

Hexham's racecourse is at Yarridge Heights in the hills above the town, with National Hunt (

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

) races throughout the year. Tynedale Cricket Club The town is also home to Tynedale Cricket Club, who play their home matches on Prior's Flat. (NE46 3EW) Founded in 1888, the club has had its most successful period over the most recent 40 years when they dominated the Northumberland County League, before starting the 21st century by winning several championships in the newly created Northumberland & Tyneside Senior Cricket League. In late 2017 Tynedale CC became a founder member of the new Northumberland & Tyneside Cricket League (NTCL), formed when a merger between NTSCL & Northumberland Cricket League was voted through by constituent clubs at the inaugural AGM held at Kingston Park Rugby Ground. This new league will comprise six divisions with divisions 5 and 6 regionalised into north and south sections. Hexham Rowing Club

Twin towns

Metzingen Metzingen () is a Swabian city with about 22,000 inhabitants, in Reutlingen county, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, south of Stuttgart. Geography The following towns and municipalities are on the borders of Metzingen, they are named starting ...

, Germany * Noyon, France

People from Hexham

References

External links

*
Hexham visitor website
* {{Authority control Market towns in Northumberland Towns in Northumberland