Netherwitton is a village in

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 about west north west of Morpeth. A former cotton-mill now converted into residential housing, the old village school also converted into a house, an old bridge, a small church, and a number of cottages and gardens comprise the village. The old cross, dated 1698, still stands in a garden beyond the green. The village cross in Netherwitton is dated 1698 and seems to have been moved there when the village was moved. The original site is now parkland. The cross stands 1.6m high and was repaired in 1825. Most of the common about it has been appropriated and planted with trees.

History

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Cromwell quartered a large force in the grounds of the stately Netherwitton Hall for one night, and later awarded a sum of £95-5s-6d. as compensation for the damage done by his troops. After Culloden in 1746

Lord Lovat Lord Lovat () is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred to simply as Lo ...

, a Jacobite leader, for a long while lay concealed in a " Priest's Hole" in an upper room of the Hall. Roger Thornton, a great merchant-prince of Newcastle at the beginning of the 15th century, was a native of Netherwitton and built a castle by the river, but no trace of it remains.

Landmarks

The Devil's Causeway passes the village less than to the east. The causeway is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

road which starts at Port Gate on

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

, north of

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

, and extends northwards across Northumberland to the mouth of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

. Devils Causeway Tower, Netherwitton, also known as, or recorded in historical documents as Highbush Wood. King writes ‘Marked on some OS maps as tower but now considered to be remains of cottage.’ SMR still records as ‘site of tower’. Long records as ‘remains of an irregular shaped tower.’ This site has been described as a Pele Tower. The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Questionable. Netherwitton Hall is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. There has been a house on the site since the 14th century. The present house, which was built in about 1685, to a design by architect Robert Trollope, has an impressive three-storey, seven-bayed frontage with balustrade and unusual irregular window pediments. The rear presents some earlier features including a stairway tower which may contain remnants of ancient fortifications. The gardens contain a folly and masonry features.

Religious sites

The church is dedicated to St Giles. He is the saint referred to as "Saint Aegidius" in one of the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows in the church, 'Aegidius' being the Latin form of the name 'Giles'.

References

External links

GENUKI
(Accessed: 27 November 2008) {{authority control Villages in Northumberland