Mickley is a cluster of villages in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Prudhoe Prudhoe ( ) is a town and civil parish in the south of Northumberland, England. It is west of Newcastle upon Tyne and situated on a steep, north-facing hill on the south bank of the River Tyne. Prudhoe had a population of 11,675 at the 2011 ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. It lies south 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, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

and is accessible via the A695. The electoral ward of Mickley comprises the hamlets of Mickley Square, West Mickley (including Mount Pleasant), High Mickley, plus Cherryburn and Eltringham Farm. The population is a little under one thousand. In 1951 the parish had a population of 1862. The Mickley settlements are served by St George's Church, which was built in 1830. Other facilities in Mickley include a garden centre, two social clubs and a cafe on the A695. There is a public house (The Blue Bell Inn), dating from the 1820s, at Mount Pleasant. The Mickley area is physically situated on a steep, north-facing hill that reaches 203 metres above sea level on Mickley Moor, where views over to both the Simonside Hills and even the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes ...

are often visible on a clear day.

History

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) was an English wood engraving, wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, ...

, wood-engraver and author of ''

A History of British Birds ''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Land ...

'', the first practical field guide, was born in 1753 at Cherryburn House, just north of Mickley Square. Cherryburn House is now a

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

site. There were several collieries in Mickley. Mickley Moor Colliery operated from 1766 till about 1781. Its successor, Mickley Colliery, was just below Mickley Square: it operated from the 1950s until the 1940s. There were also drift mines at West Mickley, and in the woods to the East of Mickley Square. This village once also produced "Mickley bricks," which can still be found in neighbouring areas. The brick kiln remains at the lower end of Mickley.

Governance

Mickley was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in Ovingham parish, from 1866 Mickley was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1974 and merged with Prudhoe.

Notable people

: see above. * Joe Tulip, professional footballer with

Queen of the South F.C. Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club formed in 1919 in Dumfries. The club plays in , the third tier of Scottish football. They are traditionally nicknamed the '' Doonhamers'' but are more usually referred ...

in the club's days in Scotland's top division *

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

, professional footballer and later manager, who won an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

winners medal as a player with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

In 1955, and later managed

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

to victory in the same competition in 1973. * Fred Liddle, professional footballer with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, Rotherham United,

, Gillingham, Coventry City and Exeter City between 1927 and 1939

References

External links

Mickley photosMickley map
{{authority control Villages in Northumberland Former civil parishes in Northumberland Prudhoe