Bellingham, Northumberland

Bellingham

Bellingham Bridge
Bellingham
 Bellingham shown within Northumberland
Population 1,334 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceNY835835
Unitary authorityNorthumberland
Ceremonial countyNorthumberland
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town HEXHAM
Postcode district NE48
Dialling code 01434
Police Northumbria
Fire Northumberland
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK ParliamentHexham
List of places
UK
England
Northumberland

Coordinates: 55°08′42″N 2°15′14″W / 55.145°N 2.254°W / 55.145; -2.254

Bellingham /ˈbɛlɪndʒəm/[2] is a village in Northumberland, to the north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and is situated on the Hareshaw burn at its confluence with the River North Tyne. Hareshaw Linn[3] is a waterfall on the Hareshaw Burn near Bellingham.

Famous as a stopping point on the Pennine Way trail it is popular with walkers and cyclists. The village's local newspaper is the Hexham Courant. There is also an 18 hole golf course which was established in 1893.[4]

Until 1966 Bellingham had a railway station, seen here in 1962

The Heritage Centre is the local museum.[5] Its exhibitions include the Border Counties Railway, the Border Reivers, mining, farming, the photography of W P Collier, and the Stannersburn Smithy. It has a database of local family names and one of old photographs. It also holds special exhibitions of historical or artistic interest, and readings and performances by poets, storytellers, musicians and dancers.

Hole Farm and Bastle

The Grade-I listed St Cuthbert's Church (13th-century, substantially reconstructed in the early 17th century) is described as 'almost unique in England'[6] owing to its stone barrel vault, which runs the length of the Nave and extends into the South Transept. Within the churchyard is "The Long Pack", purportedly the grave of a burglar who attempted to infiltrate a local house by hiding in a beggar's pack, but was discovered after he suffered an ill-timed coughing fit, and was promptly run through with the sword of the house's proprietor. From 1735 the parish rectors at Bellingham were under the patronage of the Governors of Greenwich Hospital. The Governors stipulated that the rectors were to be graduates of Oxford or Cambridge and naval chaplains. Bellingham Rectory was one of six such rectories in the Simonburn area.[7]

The village football team competes in the Tyneside Amateur League First Division.[8]

Two miles north-east at Hole Farm is the sixteenth century Hole Bastle, a well-preserved example of a bastle house.


Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to the Scottish Border with a total population of 4,074.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ↑ US dict: bĕl′·ĭn·jəm
  3. ↑ Hareshaw Linn
  4. ↑ Bellingham Golf Club
  5. ↑ Bellingham Heritage Centre
  6. ↑ Tomlinson, W W, 1888. Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland
  7. ↑ The others being Falstone, Greystead, Thorneyburn, Wark and Simonburn. Information in Bellingham Parish Church visited 2013.
  8. ↑ Tyneside Amateur League Division One: League Table
  9. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 26 June 2015.

External links

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