Islandshire was an area 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 ...

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 ...

, comprising

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 recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

or Holy Island, plus five parishes on the mainland. It is historically associated with the

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

, and was administratively an

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 ...

County Palatinate of Durham The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, commonly referred to as County Durham or simply Durham, is a historic county in Northern England. Until 1889, it was controlled by powers granted under the Bishopric of Durham. The county and Northu ...

. It was transferred to the county of

by the

Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...

, becoming a

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

. It formed part of the

Norham and Islandshires Rural District Norham and Islandshires was a rural district in Northumberland, England from 1894 to 1974. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Berwick rural sanitary district. It contained all the historic area of Norhamshir ...

from 1894 until 1974, and then formed part of the

borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed was a local government district and borough in Northumberland in the north-east of England, on the border with Scotland. The district had a resident population of 25,949 according to the 2001 census, which also notes that ...

district within the County of Northumberland.Norham and Islandshires RD Northumberland through time , Administrative history of Local Government District: hierarchies, boundaries
/ref> In 2009 the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed was abolished as part of wider structural changes to local government in England, with the area now falling under the unitary council of

Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of N ...

. The area, combined with Norham, still forms one of the unitary council's electoral divisions today. It consisted of the parishes of

Ancroft Ancroft is a village and civil parish (which includes the village of Scremerston) in Northumberland, England. Prior to 1844, Ancroft lay within the Islandshire exclave of County Durham. It is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and has a population ...

, Belford, Elwick,

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 ...

Kyloe Kyloe is a civil parish in the county of Northumberland, about south-east of Berwick-upon-Tweed. According to the parish council, the main centres of population are Fenwick, Beal, and Berrington (in the western "panhandle" of the parish). T ...

and

Tweedmouth Tweedmouth is part of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, England. It is located on the south bank of the River Tweed and is connected to Berwick town centre, on the north bank, by two road bridges and a railway bridge. Tweedmouth ...

References

History of County Durham History of Northumberland Lindisfarne {{England-hist-stub