Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/90

Rh NORTHUMBERLAND. 78 NORTHUMBERLAND. her subsequent defeats at Hedgley Moor and Hexham ; and the battle of Floddcn Meld or Branxton, where the Earl of Surrey defeated and slew James IV., in 1513. During the civil wars of the seventeenth century, the county principally took the part of the king, and New- castle was taken in 1644 by the' Scotch army, on behalf of the Parliament. In the rebellion of 1715 Hexham was occupied for the Pretender by the Earl of Derwent- water and the other noblemen of the county, but they retired into Scotland on the approach of the king's troops under Carpenter. The surface of Northumber- land gradually rises from the coast towards the Cheviot hills on the Scotch border, and becomes more and more barren as the elevation above the sea-level increases. The hills in the centre of the county are mostly clothed with green turf, but those on the borders are covered with moss and heather. The highest point in the range is 2,658 feet high, and lies a few miles S.W. of "Wooler. Near this point the Hedgehope and Standrop range branch out into the centre of the county ; and further S., the vales of the Coquet, Reed, and North Tyne, are formed by the spurs of the Cheviot, of which the most conspicuous heights are the Girdle fells, which separate the basins of the Reed and Tyne, and terminate in Hareslaw Moor. S. of the Tyne are the Allendale hills, which abound in lead mines. The coast is low and flat, and opposite Lindisfarne and the Fern Islands large tracts of sand, called " Flats," are laid bare at low tide. These are found at intervals along the entire coast. The principal harbours are Berwick, Warkworth, Holy Island, and Seaton Road. There are lighthouses on Coquet Isle, at Warkworth, the Fern Islands, and at Berwick.' The chief rivers in Northumberland are, the Tweed, which forms the N.W. boundary of the county, and is joined near Twisel by the Till, which flows north- wards with the united waters of the Glen, the Caldgate, and the Breamish, which rise in the Cheviot hills. The Aln, which rises near Alnham, passes Whittingham and Alnwiek, and forms Alnworth Harbour, after a course of about 20 miles. The Coquet, a very celebrated trout river, rises in the Cheviots, near Watling Street, and crosses the county, passing Alwinton and Rothbury, and falls into the sea at Warkworth, where a system of docks is in course of construction ; the Alwine and numerous other small streams join it on its course. The Wansbeck, 24 miles in length, passes Morpeth and enters the sea near Seaton ; the chief tributary is the Font, which rises in the South Forest. The Blyth runs nearly parallel with Wansbeck. The Tyne forms the southern boundary from Tyncmouth to near Ovingham, and is navigable for large vessels as far as Newcastle. It is formed by the union of the North and South Tynes, which join at Warden, near Hexham, The former rises on the Keelder Moors, and flows S.E. past Falstoue, Bellingham, and Wark, while the latter rises near Alstone Moor, and flows first in a northerly direction, altering its course at Haltwhistle to easterly. The respective lengths of the rivers are about 38 and 33 miles, and the main stream is about 30 miles in length. Numerous rivers and burns flow into both branches of the Tyne from the hills on either side, but the only river of any size is the Reed, which rises on Carter Fell and falls into the North Tyne near Bellingham. The Derwent forms for some distance the southern boundary of the county, and falls into the Tyne a little above Newcastle. The above rivers, and, in fact, nearly every stream in the county, abound in trout, and there are salmon fisheries in the Tweed, the Coquet, and the Aln, and formerly in the Tyne, but the navigation in that river now keeps away the salmon. The climate is con- siderably colder than that of the southern districts of England, but in different parts of the county the tem- perature varies considerably, the low lands on the E. side being warmer than the moor land on the Scotch border, although the former is also subject to cold E. winds. Of the geological features of the county, the most noted is the carboniferous formation, of which Newcastle is the centre. The coal measures run north- wards from the Tyne as far as the river Aln, and nre bounded on the W. by a line drawn through Alnmouth, Felton, Morpeth, Whalton, and Bywell. The coal ia mixed with sandstone, clayslate, and limestone, and ia in some places 1,600 feet thick. The principal pits are at Earsdou, Wallsend, lleddon, and Hartley. The first pit was worked at Newcastle in 1240. Between tho above-mentioned line, and a similar one from Rothbury to Hexham and Alstono Moor, lies a belt of millstone grit, and W. of this, carboniferous limestone, with occasional scams of coal. The remainder of the county is chiefly composed of several varieties of sandstone, except the Cheviots, which are formed in great measure of porphyry, and the cliffs consist of trap near Barn- borough and Dunstanborough, and of magnesian lime- stone further S. There is also a tract of red sand- stone along the Tweed, which yields gypsum. Flags and grindstones are quarried at Bykcr, and limestone for manure at Bamborough. Iron is found in connection with the coal, and lead and zinc at Allendale, Alstone, Fallowfield, Coalcleugh, and Shildon. There are mineral springs at Thurston, Lady's Well, near Huly- stone, and at Eglingham. The soil of the eastern part of the county is a clayey or gravelly loam ; in the centre and S.E. the loam rests on a clay subsoil. Towards the Scotch border there are about 450,000 acres of peat and moor land, divided into small freeholds called " marches," and employed as pasture for sheep, of which there are two breeds on the hills, tho Cheviot, a hornless breed, and the ordinary mountain sheep. In tho lower lands, the Leicester, Southdown, and other varieties are found. Turnips arc very largely grown, also large crops of wheat, oats, barley, beans, and potatoes. The short-horned Durham cattle are very extensively bred, and largo quantities of Scotch cattle are imported to fatten. The Clydesdale breed of cart- horses has long been famous. The manufactories in Northumberland are chiefly dependent on the abundant supply of coal, and are scattered in various parts of tho county, but more especially along the Tyne, where there are glass, iron, lead, and chemical works, also paper manufactories at Houghton, gloves at Hexham, potteries, brickfields, &c. For administrative purposes Northum- berland is divided into six wards Uainborough, Glen- dale, Coquetdale, and Morpeth, which form the northern division of the county, and Castle and Tyncdale wards forming the southern division. These contain 00 parishes and part of one more, with six extra-parochial places, and about 600 towns and villages, of which twelve are market towns, viz., Newcastle, Morpeth, Alnwiek, Bel- ford, Bellingham, Berwick, Haltwhistle, Hcxham, Rothbury, Tynemouth, Allendale, North Shields, and' Wooler. Each division of the county returns two members to the House of Commons. The election towns are respectively Alnwiek and Hcxham, and tho polling places, Elsdon, Morpeth, Berwick, and Wooler, for the N., and Newcastle, Bellingham, Haltwhistle, Allendale, and North Shields, for the S. Newcastle and Berwick also return two members each, and Morpclh and Tynemouth (with North Shields) one each. New- castle is the county and assize town, and sessions aro held there as well as at Alnwiek, Morpeth, and Hcxham. The first ten of the above-named towns, with Glcndale and Castle wards, are the seats of the poor-law unions into which the county is divided. The first nine and last two have new county courts. Northumberland has a population of 343,025, according to the census of 1SG1, of which the northern division contained 93,041, and the southern 249,984, showing an increase of 39,457 since the former census of 1851, when the population was 303,568. The county is governed by a lord lieutenant, about 32 deputy lieutenants, a high sheriff, and a body of magistrates about 200 in number. It is in tho northern circuit and the north-eastern military district. For ecclesiastical purposes it contributes two arch- deaconries (Lindisfarne and Northumberland) in tho diocese of Durham and the province of York. Lindis- farne is subdivided into the rural deaneries of Alnwiek, Bamborough, Morpeth, Norham, and Rothbury. North- umberland contains tho deaneries of Bellinghj,r.i,