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Heddon-on-the-Wall
Heddon-on-the-Wall lies in south Northumberland, on the boundary with Tyneside, overlooking the Tyne valley and Hadrian’s Wall runs across the parish.
While you are in the area - do try the local beer. Wylam Brewery at Heddon-on-the-Wall is a micro brewery that produces 11 superb beers (from 3.8%abv to 5.9%abv). Wylam Brewery Ltd was set up in an old farm dairy near Heddon on the Wall by retirees Robin Leighton (Brewing Director) and John Boyle (Managing Director).
The first brew was casked in August 2000. The brewery has been in production now for over 5 years and its beers have gained a reputation for quality and flavour, winning several awards at festivals around the UK. A good selection is usually available at the Brewery Tap, The Boathouse Wylam, and in many pubs in the region.
About Heddon-on-the-Wall
The earliest remains in the parish date to prehistoric times. Small flint tools, made in the Mesolithic period have been found in fields at Heddon Law. They were probably used in hunting and preparing food but where the people who made these tools lived, is unknown.
People began to lead a more settled way of life from the Neolithic period onwards. This was when farming first began to develop and some stone axes from Heddon may have been used for chopping trees down, clearing the land for planting early crops.
A new technology gave its name to the Bronze Age when bronze was used to make tools. The discovery of a crucible and an axe on an island in the River Tyne, may point to this being a bronze smith’s working site. The oldest burial place in the parish is a Bronze Age round cairn at Heddon Laws Farm that was reused in the medieval period as a beacon. Another aspect of the ritual side of life were two standing stones which once stood near Stannerford. Some hut circles seen on Heddon Common and Resting Hill in the 19th century, may be the remains of the earliest settlement, but any remains have been lost to quarrying and housing developments.
More definite settlement remains have survived from the Iron Age when a defended settlement was built at Haughton with a protective ditch and bank around it. Such Iron Age enclosures are common in the county, but few have been found in the Tyne valley.
No trace of the local population in the Roman period has been found at Heddon. Hadrian’s Wall was built across the parish in the second century AD with turrets, milecastles and a fort at Rudchester. The fort was equipped with a mithraeum and a civilian settlement, or vicus. Many of the turrets and milecastles lie beneath the Military Road (B6318), built in 1745, but Milecastle 14 survived as a low earthwork until the later 20th century. The vallum can still be traced either side of Heddon village and to the east of the village a consolidated stretch of Hadrian’s Wall stands on display to visitors.
There was probably an early medieval settlement at Heddon as the Church of St Andrew has some late Saxon stonework incorporated into the nave. No sign of this village has yet been found.
Further information on the present community living in Heddon-on-the-Wall or on the history.