Town and civil parish in Northumberland, England
Human settlement in England
Hexham
(
HEKS
-?m
) 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 administrative centre for the
Tynedale
district from 1974 to 2009. In 2011, it had a
population
of 13,097.
[1]
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
is 25 miles (40 km) to the east and
Carlisle
37 miles (60 km) to the west.
Toponym
[
edit
]
The name Hexham derives from the
Old English
Hagustaldes ea
and later
Hagustaldes ham
from which the modern form (with the "-ham" element) derives.
Hagustald
is related to the
Old High German
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").
[2]
[3]
History
[
edit
]
Hexham Abbey
originated as a
monastery
founded by
Wilfrid
in 674. The
crypt
of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman
ruins
, probably
Corbridge
or
Hadrian's Wall
.
[4]
The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(Manuscript D:
Cotton Tiberius
B IV) records the murder of King
Ælfwald
by
Sicga
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
[5]
day before the
calends
of October; and a heavenly light was often seen on the spot where he was slain. He was buried at Hexham in the church.
[6]
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.
Like many towns in the
Anglo-Scottish border
area and adjacent regions, Hexham suffered from the
border wars
between the
kingdoms
of
Scotland
and
England
, including attacks from
William Wallace
who burnt the town in 1297. In 1312,
Robert the Bruce
, 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
.
[7]
In 1464 during the
Wars of the Roses
, 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
(
The Battle of Hexham
); 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.
[8]
Until 1572, Hexham was the administrative centre of the former Liberty or Peculiar of
Hexhamshire
.
[9]
[10]
In 1715,
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater
, raised the standard for
James Francis Edward Stuart
in Hexham Market place.
[11]
"Hexham"
was used in the Borders as a
euphemism
for "
Hell
". Hence the term
"To Hexham wi' you an' ye’r whussel!"
, recorded in 1873, and the popular expression "Gang to Hexham!".
[12]
"Hexham-birnie"
is derived from the term and means
"an indefinitely remote place"
.
[12]
Hexham riot
[
edit
]
In 1761, the
Hexham Riot
took place in the Market Place when a crowd protesting about changes in the criteria for serving in the
militia
were fired upon by troops from the North Yorkshire Militia. Some 45 protesters were killed, earning the Militia the
sobriquet
of The Hexham Butchers.
[13]
Notable buildings
[
edit
]
Hexham's architectural landscape is dominated by
Hexham Abbey
. The current church largely dates from c. 1170?1250, in the
Early English Gothic
style of
architecture
. The choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period.
[14]
The abbey stands at the west end of the market place, which is home to the Shambles, a covered market built by
Sir Walter Blackett
in 1766; it is a Grade II*
listed building
.
[15]
At the east end of the market place stands the Moot Hall, originally commissioned as a gatehouse that was part of the defences of the town. The Moot Hall, which is considered one of the best examples of a medieval courthouse in the north of England,
[16]
is a Grade I
listed building
.
[17]
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 building
.
[18]
The Leazes on Shaws Lane is a Grade II listed mansion built in 1853 by
John Dobson
for William Kinsopp.
[19]
Hexham Library and the Queen's Hall Art Centre can both be found in the
Queen's Hall
, completed in 1866. The building contains the Brough Local Studies Collection which is the second-largest local history collection in the county.
[20]
[21]
Dare Wilson Barracks
, the home of X Company, 5th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was completed in 1891.
[22]
Governance
[
edit
]
Hexham is in the
parliamentary
constituency of
Hexham
.
Guy Opperman
has been the Conservative member of parliament for Hexham since May 2010. In 2023 Joe Morris was selected to stand as the
Labour Party
candidate at the next
General Election
.
[23]
The town comes under Northumberland County Council and contains three wards: Hexham Central with Acomb, Hexham East and Hexham West.
Local media
[
edit
]
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.
Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC North East and Cumbria
and
ITV Tyne Tees
.
Hexham's local radio stations are
BBC Radio Newcastle
on 103.7 FM,
Capital North East
on 105.8 FM,
Heart North East
on 96.4 FM,
Smooth North East
on 101.2 FM and
Hits Radio North East
on 103.2 FM.
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
[
edit
]
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
private school
is
Mowden Hall School
, a prep school located 10 miles (16 km) away in
Stocksfield
.
Transport
[
edit
]
The nearest airport to Hexham is
Newcastle International Airport
, which is located around 20 miles (32 km) away by road.
Carlisle Lake District Airport
and
Teesside International Airport
are located around 32 and 58 miles (51 and 93 km) away by road, respectively.
Rail
[
edit
]
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
Newcastle upon Tyne
with
Carlisle
. The line follows the course of the
River Tyne
through
Northumberland
.
Services on the Tyne Valley Line are currently operated by
Northern Trains
. As of the December 2019 timetable change, the station is served by a twice-hourly service heading west towards
Carlisle
, and three trains per hour heading east towards
Newcastle
.
Road
[
edit
]
Hexham is served by the
A69 road
, which runs for 54 miles (87 km) from
Carlisle
to
Newcastle upon Tyne
. 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
.
Hexham Bus Station
[
edit
]
The original bus station 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.
[24]
[25]
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
Hadrian's Wall
, as well as the
market town
of
Haltwhistle
. Memorably, the route number, AD122, is the date of the building of the wall.
As of July 2022
[update]
, the stand allocation is:
Awards
[
edit
]
Hexham won the town award in the 2005
Britain in Bloom
awards.
[26]
In the same year, it was also named
England's Favourite Market Town
by the magazine
Country Life
.
[27]
Hexham was voted the happiest place to live in Britain, 2019 and 2021.
[28]
Economy
[
edit
]
The major employer in Hexham is
Egger (UK) Limited
.
[29]
[30]
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.
[31]
In Hexham the
Subskimmer
was designed and made by
Submarine Products
. The town is also the site of a chipboard factory owned by the Austrian firm
Egger
Retail Products GmbH, which vents steam which can be seen from miles away.
Botanical brewery
Fentimans
is based in Hexham.
Shopping
[
edit
]
Hexham has many shops commonly found in other English market-towns, with five central supermarkets, multiple clothes shops, charity shops, banks, estate agents, antique shops and chemists.
[32]
Cafes and coffee shops are also common in Hexham, from commercial chains to family run independents.
Sport
[
edit
]
Hexham's
racecourse
is at Yarridge Heights in the hills above the town, with National Hunt (
steeplechase
) races throughout the year.
[33]
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.
Twin towns
[
edit
]
People from Hexham
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Northumberland Knowledge Census Fact Sheet"
(PDF)
.
- ^
Northumberland
Place-Names
, by Stan Beckensall, Butler Publishing 2004,
ISBN
0-946928-41-X
- ^
"Northern English ? Cambridge University Press"
.
- ^
Graham, Frank (1992).
Hexham and Corbridge: a Short History and Guide
. Thropton, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing. pp. 2, 4, 5.
ISBN
0-946928-19-3
.
- ^
By modern counting, the 8th day before. By Roman counting the
x
th day was (
y
-
x
+1) days before the
y
th day: see
Roman calendar#Months
.
- ^
Kirby, pp. 153?154; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ms. D, s.a. 789.
- ^
"Neville's Cross Campaign 1346"
. Battlefields Trust
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Ordnance Survey
OL43 map, '
Hadrian's Wall
'.
- ^
"Journal of the House of Lords May 1572"
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
"Journal of the House of Commons May 1572"
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Gibson, William Sidney (1850).
Dilston hall; or, Memoirs of James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater
. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. p. 58.
- ^
a
b
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"
. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2008
. Retrieved
10 November
2008
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Priory Church of St Andrew (1042576)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Shambles (1370800)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Arnold, Howard, Litton (2004).
"Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Moot Hall, Market Place, Hexham. Historic England Research Report 41/2004"
.
research.historicengland.org.uk
. Retrieved
10 May
2020
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Moot Hall (1042577)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Manor Office (1281526)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
7 April
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Leazes (1204227)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
3 January
2019
.
- ^
"Hexham Library"
. Northumberland Life
. Retrieved
30 August
2021
.
- ^
"Hexham Library"
. Northumberland County Council. Archived from
the original
on 4 July 2014
. Retrieved
30 August
2021
.
- ^
"4th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers"
. Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007
. Retrieved
8 July
2017
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
"Hexham Labour members pick election candidate"
.
Hexham Courant
. 19 October 2023
. Retrieved
6 November
2023
.
- ^
Muncaster, Michael (29 November 2016).
"Convoy of vintage buses marks official opening of new Hexham Bus Station"
.
ChronicleLive
. Retrieved
18 June
2020
.
- ^
"Hexham's new bus station is just the ticket"
.
Go North East
. 30 November 2016
. Retrieved
20 February
2020
.
- ^
"A Blooming Good Show by the North".
The Journal
. 29 September 2005.
- ^
"Hexham named England's favourite market town 2005"
.
Tynedale Council
. 24 November 2005. Archived from
the original
on 27 June 2006.
- ^
"Where is the happiest place to live near you? | Property blog"
.
rightmove.co.uk
. 24 November 2021
. Retrieved
30 November
2021
.
- ^
"Major Hexham employer Egger UK"
. 4 February 2018.
- ^
"Hexham employer Egger UK posts rise"
. 27 January 2017.
- ^
Rowland, T. H.
(1994).
Waters of Tyne
(Reprint ed.). Warkworth, Northumberland, England: Sandhill Press Ltd.
ISBN
0-946098-36-0
.
- ^
"Hexham Shops"
.
visithexham.net/
. Archived from
the original
on 2 February 2017
. Retrieved
23 January
2017
.
- ^
"Hexham Racecourse ? Horse Racing ? Homepage"
.
- ^
"Hexham Town Twinning"
.
Hexham Town Twinning
. Retrieved
14 December
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Hexham
.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Hexham
.
|
---|
Unitary authorities
| |
---|
Major settlements
(cities in italics)
| |
---|
Topics
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|