Alnwick

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National Gazetteer (1868) - Alnwick

"ALNWICK, a parish and market town in the eastern division of the ward of Coquetdale, in county Northumberland, of which it is the county town, 30 miles S.S.E. from Berwick-upon-Tweed, 34 miles N. by W. from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 306 miles from London by road, and 314 miles by the Great Northern and York, Newcastle, and Berwick railways. It comprises the several townships of Alnwick, Alnwick South Side, Abbey Lands, Canongate, Denwick, and Huhne Park, with seven hamlets Its name is derived from its situation on the river Alne, the town being built on the sides of the hills rising from the river on the south, amidst beautiful and romantic scenery. It is a place of great antiquity, but the precise date of its origin is not known. It is believed that a fort existed here in the time of the Romans, and that the castle was erected on its site by the Saxons, who named the place Ealnwic. Just before the Conquest Gilbert Tyson owned the castle and barony; and on his death at the battle of Hastings, the Norman lords de Vesci became the possessors. The possession remained with them till about 1297, at which time the castle and barony were bequeathed by the licence of Edward I. to the Bishop of Durham. They were shortly afterwards purchased by Lord Henry de Percy, from whom they have been regularly transmitted to the present noble owner, the Duke of Northumberland. Opposite the railway station, at the entrance of the town, is a noble column, erected by the Percy tenantry, 100 feet high, surmounted by the Percy crest, and inscribed, "To Hugh, Duke of Northumberland, K.G., this column is erected, dedicated, and inscribed by a grateful and united tenantry. A.D. 1816." Alnwick, situated so near to the northern limit of England, was the scene of numerous forays and conflicts in the fierce border warfare of the middle ages. It was besieged in 1093 by Malcolm III., King of Scotland, surnamed Ceanmohr, or "Greathead," and was defended by Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland. Malcolm and his son, Prince Edward, both fell dining the siege. King David gained possession of the town in 1135. William the Lion, who took part with young Richard, afterwards Coeur de Lion, against his father, Henry II. entered Northumberland in 1174, with a host of eighty thousand men, and laid siege to Alnwick. William was taken prisoner by a troop of English horse under Ralph de Glanville. He was only liberated on pledging himself as Henry's liegeman, and binding himself to do homage for Scotland. Subsequently, on payment of 10,000 marks, this humiliating treaty was annulled by Richard. The place was nearly burned to the ground in 1215 by King John, but appears to have been soon rebuilt. The Scots, under Robert Bruce, made an attempt on it in 1328, but failed. A wall was built round the town in 1411, and at the same time battlements were erected on the castle. The town was again burnt in 1448 by the Scots, after Dumfries was burnt by the English. Alnwick is a borough by prescription. The ancient style of the corporation was the "burgesses of Alnwick;" the present style, the "chamberlains, common council, and freemen of the borough of Alnwick." It is now governed by a bailiff nominated by the Duke of Northumberland, four chamberlains, and twenty-four common-councilmen. The chamberlains are elected from the council, and the councillors from the body of freemen. The freemen become such either by inheritance or by servitude. There was a curious and absurd custom, not many years discontinued, in-connection with admission to the freedom, which tradition traces back to a decree of King John; and this tradition looks less improbable than it did, since the publication of an itinerary, which shows that King John was at Alnwick on the 24th April, 1209. St. Mark's day, 25th April, is the day of admission for freemen, and after admission they had to ride the bounds of an extensive common. In the course of their ride they came to a muddy pond, named the "Freeman's Well," where the bailiff bids them dismount and make their way through it from end to end. This they did, in a cotton dress, and usually before a crowd of delighted and applauding spectators. So, it is said, decreed King John, because the townsmen of his day left their roads in so bad a condition that he himself was well-nigh lost in the bogs. Petty sessions are held once a fortnight by the county magistrates, and quarter sessions are held here in turn with Newcastle, Hexham, and Morpeth. Polling and the election for the north division of the county take place here. A county court is held once a month in the townhall. The town is regularly built, the streets are broad, well paved, and the houses mostly modern and built of stone. It is lighted with gas, and has a good supply of water. There were formerly four square towers with gateways in the town wall, of which only one, that named Bondgate, remains. It was built by Hotspur, and was formerly used as a prison. The market-place is a large square in the centre of the town, on the north side of which is the townhall, a handsome stone building with a square tower, erected in 1731; and on the western side, the market-house, containing reading and assembly rooms, with shambles and stalls for fish and poultry beneath. It was erected by the Duke of Northumberland in 1827, and is in the early English style of architecture. The house of correction was built in 1807, and the poor-law union house in 1842. There is an infirmary, a theatre, a subscription library, founded in 1783, a scientific and mechanics' institute, founded in 1824, a tradesmen's and mechanics' newsrooms and a savings-bank. A new and spacious courthouse for the holding of petty sessions, and a corn exchange are now being erected. The town is well drained, under the provisions of the Public Health Act. Fire-plugs are fixed in the streets about fifty yards apart. A stone bridge of three arches crosses the Alne at the northern end of the town. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Durham, value £175, in the patronage of the Duke. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary and St. Michael, is a large structure in the perpendicular and decorated styles of architecture, with groined chancel, carved stalls, and a niche in the south aisle with three effigies recumbent. A new district church, dedicated to St. Paul, was erected in 1846 by the late Duke. The living is a curacy, value £200, in the patronage of the Duke. There are places of worship belonging to the Roman Catholics, Unitarians, Independents, Wesleyan and New Connection Methodists, English Presbyterians, and United Presbyterians. The last-named body have two chapels here. There is a corporation school, in which, besides English, classics and mathematics are taught, an infant school, a national school founded in 1810, and supported by the Duke, and several Sunday schools. The trade and manufactures of the town are small and unimportant. There are two extensive tobacco and snuff manufactories, besides several breweries, a tannery, and flour-mills. Coal is found in the parish, and there are quarries of limestone, freestone, and marble. Bricks and tiles are made. The market is held on Saturday. Fairs are held on the eve of Palm Sunday, the 12th May, the last Monday in July, the first Tuesday in October, for sheep, cattle, and horses. A wool fair is held on the first Saturday after the 5th July; and statute fairs, for hiring servants, the first Saturday in March, the 12th May, and the first Saturday in November. A cattle market is held every alternate Monday. Alnwick Castle, the noble seat of the Duke of Northumberland, stands on the site of a Roman camp, to the north-west of the town. About a hundred years ago considerable transformations were effected, which destroyed, in great measure, its characteristics as a Border castle. But in 1858 his grace, the present Duke, caused it to be repaired at a very large cost, and as closely as possible according to the ancient design. It is now one of the finest examples of a feudal fortress in the kingdom. The walls enclose an area of five acres, and the grounds, which are watered by the Alne, extend five miles in length. The family residence is in the centre of the inner court. The interior decorations are of extraordinary splendour and magnificence. The ceiling of the chapel is constructed after that of King's College Chapel, Cambridge; and the paintings on the walls are copied from those in Milan cathedral. The walls of the castle are flanked by sixteen towers. Very extensive and important works have long been, and are still, going on at the castle. The park abounds in scenery of rare and various beauty, and contains ruins of two abbeys; one that of the Premonstratensian Canons, founded in 1147, by Eustace Fitz-John; the other, Hulme Abbey, founded by a crusader, in 1240. Malcolm's Cross, a memorial of the fall of King Malcolm and his son during the siege of Alnwick in 1093, was rebuilt in 1774, on the spot where he fell, by the Duchess of Northumberland, a lineal descendant of the king. Alnwick was the birthplace of Friar Martin of Alnwick, and of Bishop William of Alnwick, the latter of whom lived in the first half of the 15th century. Alnwick gives the title of baron to the Earl of Beverley."

"ABBEY LANDS, a township in the parish and union of Alnwick and ward of Coquetdale, in the county of Northumberland, 2 miles to the N.W. of Alnwick. It had anciently an abbey of canons. The hamlets of Broom-house, Heckley, Heckley Farm and Grange, and Whitehouse, are included in this township."

"BROOMHOUSE, a hamlet in the township of Abbeylands, and parish of Alnwick, ward of Coquetdale, in the county of Northumberland, 1 mile from Alnwick."

"CANONGATE, a township in the parish of Alnwick, ward of Coquetdale, in the county of Northumberland."

"CAULEDGE PARK, a hamlet in the township and parish of Alnwick, ward of Coquetdale, in the county of Northumberland, 2 miles from Alnwick."

"DENWICK, a township in the parish of Alnwick, E. division of the ward of Coquetdale, in the county of Northumberland, 1½ mile N.E. of Alnwick. The Duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor. There is a quarry of excellent freestone."

"FRIARS BUILDINGS, a hamlet in the township of Hulne Park and parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, a short distance from the town of Alnwick."

"GREENSFIELD, a hamlet in the township and parish of Alnwick, South Side, E. division of the ward of Coquetdale, county Northumberland. It is situated in the vicinity of the town of Alnwick."

"GRUMWELL'S PARK, a hamlet in the parish and township of Alnwick, ward of Coquetdale, county Northumberland, 2 miles from Alnwick."

"HECKLEY, (and Heckley Grange) hamlets in the township of Abbey Lands, parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, 2 miles N.W. of Alnwick.

"HOBBERLOW, a hamlet in the parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, 2 miles from Alnwick."

"HULNE PARK, a township in the parish of Alnwick, E. division of the ward of Coquetdale, county Northumberland. It is situated on the N. side of the town of Alnwick, and contains the hamlets of Hulne Abbey, Park-Farm, and Friar's-Buildings, all within the Castle grounds. The entrance to the park is in Rotten Row, at which place there is a monument bearing an inscription to William the Lion, King of Scotland, who was here taken prisoner during the siege of Alnwick Castle in 1174. In this township, but about 2 miles N.W. of Alnwick, is a castle 90 feet in height, at the summit of which is a balcony commanding extensive views. Three miles from Alnwick are the ruins of Hulne Abbey, founded in 1240 by Ralph Fresburn; a crusader and Carmelite friar; and in 1468 a tower was added by the fourth earl of Northumberland. Bale, the biographer, wrote his "Lives" here. The Duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor."

"LITTLE MILL, a hamlet in the parish of Alnwick, ward of East Coquetdale, county Northumberland, 17 miles N. of Newcastle. It is a station on the North-Eastern railway."

"PARK FARM, a hamlet in the township of Hulme Park and parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, near Alnwick."

"RUGLEY, a hamlet in the township and parish of Alnwick, ward of East Coquetdale, county Northumberland, 3 miles S. of Alnwick, near the river Alne."

"SHIELDYKES, a hamlet in the parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, 5 miles S.W. of Alnwick."

"SNIPE HOUSE, a hamlet in the parish of Alnwick, ward of East Coquetdale, county Northumberland, 3 miles S.W. of Alnwick, in the vale of the Alne."

"WHITEHOUSE, a hamlet in the township of Abbey Lands, parish of Alnwick, county Northumberland, 3 miles N.W. of Alnwick."