About Northumberland

Northumberland
Country: England
Region: North East
Established: 12th century
Largest town: Blyth, (37k pop.)
Area: 5,013 km2 (1,936 sq mi)
Population: 322,434
Admin HQ: Morpeth

Northumberland is a county in Northern England

. It is bordered by land on three sides. The Scottish Borders to the north, County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south, and Cumbria to the west. To the east is the North Sea, with a 103-kilometre (64 mi) stretch of coastline.

A predominantly rural county with a landscape of moorland and farmland, a large area is part of Northumberland National Park. The population density of Northumberland is only 62 persons per square kilometre, giving it the lowest population density in England.

The name of Northumberland is recorded as norð hẏmbra land in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, meaning "the land north of the Humber". The name of the kingdom of Northumbria derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber".

The area has been the site of a number of historic battles with Scotland.

During Roman occupation of Britain, most of the present county lay north of Hadrian's Wall. It was controlled by Rome for a brief period.

As evidence of its border position throughout medieval times, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, including those at Alnwick, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Warkworth.

Northumberland is often called the "cradle of Christianity" in England because Christianity flourished on Lindisfarne, a tidal island north of Bamburgh, also called Holy Island, after King Oswald of Northumbria (reigned 634–642) invited monks from Iona to come to convert the English. The monastery at Lindisfarne was the centre of production of the Lindisfarne Gospels (around 700). It became the home of St Cuthbert (about 634–687, abbot from about 665), who is buried in Durham Cathedral.

Bamburgh is the historic capital of Northumberland, the royal castle from before the unification of the Kingdoms of England under the monarchs of the House of Wessex in the 10th century.

The Earldom of Northumberland was briefly held by the Scottish royal family by marriage between 1139–1157 and 1215–1217.[citation needed] Scotland relinquished all claims to the region as part of the Treaty of York (1237). The Earls of Northumberland once wielded significant power in English affairs because, as powerful and militaristic Marcher Lords, they had the task of protecting England from Scottish retaliation for English invasions.

Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the Rising of the North (1569–1570) against Elizabeth I. These revolts were usually led by the Earls of Northumberland, the Percy family. Shakespeare makes one of the Percys, Harry Hotspur (1364–1403), the hero of his Henry IV, Part 1. The Percys were often aided in conflict by other powerful Northern families, such as the Nevilles and the Patchetts. The latter were stripped of all power and titles by the victorious Parliamentarians after the English Civil War of 1642–1651.

After the Restoration of 1660, the county was a centre for Roman Catholicism in England, as well as a focus of Jacobite support. Northumberland was long a wild county, where outlaws and Border Reivers hid from the law. However, the frequent cross-border skirmishes and accompanying local lawlessness largely subsided after the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England under King James I and VI in 1603.

Northumberland played a key role in the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century on. Many coal mines operated in Northumberland until the widespread closures in the 1970s and 1980s.

Collieries operated at Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Choppington, Netherton, Ellington and Pegswood. The region's coalfields fuelled industrial expansion in other areas of Britain, and the need to transport the coal from the collieries to the Tyne led to the development of the first railways. Shipbuilding and armaments manufacture were other important industries before deindustrialisation.

Coal mining in the county goes back to Tudor times. Coal mines continue to operate today; many of them are open-cast mines.

Northumberland has a diverse physical geography. It is low and flat near the North Sea coast and increasingly mountainous towards the northwest. Northumberland is one of the coldest areas of the country. But as the county lies on the east coast, it has relatively low rainfall, with the highest amounts falling on the high land in the west.

About a quarter of the county forms the Northumberland National Park, an area of outstanding landscape that has largely been protected from development and agriculture. The park stretches south from the Scottish border and includes Hadrian's Wall. Most of the park is over 240 metres (790 feet) above sea level.

The Northumberland Coast is also a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). A small part of the North Pennines AONB is also in the county.

There is a variety of nature reserves in Northumberland including Holy Island National Nature Reserve and Farne Islands National Nature Reserve. Also 50% of England's red squirrel population live in the Kielder Water and Forest Park.

Tourism is a major source of employment and income in Northumberland. In the early 2000s the county annually received 1.1 million British visitors and 50,000 foreign tourists, who spent a total of £162 million.