Northumberland

Northumberland has an area of 2,019 square mile and a population of around 300,600. It is located in the North East of England and is the most northerly of the English counties. It is separated from Scotland by the the Tweed River and the Cheviot Hills. The county town is Alnwick.

Industry

Tourism is now a major part of the local economy. Agriculture, especially, sheep and cattle are an important agricultural part of the area’s industry. In the last century, the major economy was coal mining, shipping, shipbuilding and repairing, and the production of heavy electrical machinery, but these have declined or ceased to be of any importance.

Geography

The major rivers are the Tyne, the Derwent, the Wansbeck, the Till, the Alno, and the Coquet. The land is level along the coastline and hilly in the centre, where high moorland alternates with fertile valleys.

History

Hadrian's Wall was built in Roman times by the emperor Hadrian and runs for miles across the county. In the 6th century the Angles established the kingdom of Bernicas which later merged with the Kingdom of Deira to form the Kingdom of Northumbria. This Kingdom, once the most cultured of the Island, stretched at the height of its power from the Irish Sea to the North Sea and from Northern Scotland to Sheffield. It destroyed itself with a disastrous defeat by the northern Picts which wiped out the King and the entire army, followed by a vicious period of civil wars between the Kingdoms of Bernica and Deira and it was so weakened that it fell easily first, to the Kingdoms of Mercia and Gwynedd and later to the Danish invasions. The area suffered severely during the constant border wars between England and Scotland and was often invaded and destroyed by the Scots.

Northumberland County Flag