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Hexham
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Hexham is a the largest town in West Northumberland situated on the banks of the river Tyne just off the A69 main Newcastle to Carlisle road 20 miles west of Newcastle. There has been a settlement there since Saxon times and there are many ancient spellings of the town's name including Hutoldesham, Hestoldesham, Hextoldesham and Halgutstad. One interpretation is that the names refer to the tributaries to the Tyne which run through the town.
Until 1571, Hexham was head of an ancient shire which was a regality, county palatinate and diocese. In this year, by Act of Parliament the shire was incorporated into the County of Northumberland and became an ecclesiastical peculiar of the Diocese of York. The term Hexhamshire is still used to refer to the area comprising the parishes of Hexham, Allendale and St John Lee.
The building of the Benedictine Abbey and church, was begun by Wilfrid, Bishop of York in 674. After being destroyed by the Danes it was re-founded in 1113 as a monastery for Augustinian Canons. The church of St Andrew, although it has Saxon origins, was also rebuilt in the 12th century.
Until the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England the English border was governed by Wardens appointed to maintain law and order. The border was divided into three marches and Hexham was the headquarters of the Middle March. It also boasts the oldest purpose built gaol in the country.
Hexham's most notable industry was the manufacture of tan, leather goods particularly gloves. AB Wright in his 1823 history of Hexham gives the following statistics.
People employed in the leather trade 1111
Raw skins dressed annually 80000
Skins of dressed leather imported annually 18000
Pairs of gloves annually made and exported 23504 dozens
The railway came to Hexham in the 1830s with the building of the Newcastle to Carlisle railway replacing a scheme to build a canal between the two towns. In 1801 the population was 3427 and by 1851 this had risen by two thirds to 5321.
Today the town is a thriving community with a wide range of facilities. It is very popular with tourists and has recently restored some historic buildings including Old Gaol (now a museum) and to develop the facilities.
A few weeks after Hedgeley
Moor, on 15 May 1464, the Lancastrian forces were completely defeated near Devil's
Water, to the south of Hexham, effectively ending the four year war between
the rival kings Henry VI (of Lancaster) and Edward IV (of York), in Edward's
favour. On 24 June 1464, the Lancastrian stronghold of Dunstanburgh Castle also
fell to the forces of Edward IV.
ST WILFRID AND HEXHAMSHIRE
Despite its important status as the largest town in Tynedale and its role as the main centre for touring Hadrian's Wall, Hexham does not seem to have Roman origins. Hexham's recorded history does not begin until 674 A.D, three centuries after the Roman departure, when an abbey was founded here by the Northumbrian saint and bishop, called Wilfrid.
Educated on the holy Northumbrian Island of Lindisfarne, St Wilfrid (634 - 709 A.D) had travelled to Rome and was impressed by the lifestyle and magnificence of European churches. He decided that something of a similar nature needed to be built in Northumbria. The results were the great churches at Hexham and Ripon.
Hexham Abbey was one of the first buildings in Anglo-Saxon Britain to make full use of stone. Wilfrid's abbey at Hexham was regarded as one of the finest in the country and its beauty was particularly enhanced by the use of Roman stones taken from the ruins of Hadrian's Wall and the nearby Roman fort at Corbridge.
Wilfrid was a flamboyant, highly educated and persuasive man but his talents brought him into inevitable conflict with the King of Northumbria, who threw him into prison for nine months. On release, Wilfrid was banished from Northumbria and fled to Sussex, where he played a very important part in converting the South Saxons to Christainity.
For a time Wilfrid's abbey at Hexham had the status of a cathedral and was the centre of a see stretching from the Tees to the River Aln. The cathedral and see of Hexham was later superceeded by Lindisfarne and Chester le Street.
By the time of the Norman Conquest Hexham and its abbey were part of the see of Durham but in the reign of Henry I it regained a degree of independence, when the town and its surrounding district known as Hexhamshire. The lands were confiscated from the Prince Bishops of Durham and given to the Archbishops of York, to whom it belonged until 1837.
HEXHAM ABBEY
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Founded by St Wilfrid in 674, the original Saxon church was (as many buildings of that time) constructed from stones taken from Hadrian's Wall. The crypt is all that remains of the original building and Roman inscriptions can still be seen on some of the stones. The present abbey (Augustinian canons) was established by Thomas II, the Archbishop of York, on the site of St Wilfrid’s Saxon monastery in 1113 and is Hexham's Parish church.
Its treasures include the stone "Saint Wilfrid's Chair", reputedly the coronation seat for the Kings of Northumbria; Saxon crypt, 15th century paintings, misericords and Saxon chalice; the 7th century Frith Stool and the Augustine night stair, also known as the grand Midnight Stair, which once led to the canon's dormitory.
There is a good Visitor Centre and shop and guided tours are also available. Open: Daily, all year May - Sept 09:30am - 5:00pm, October - Apr 09:30am -7:00pm (2005).
1761 March 9, - HEXHAM MASSACRE
(Hexham Market Place)
Troops opened fire on the crowd after The Riot Act was read to Allendale miners
demonstrating against army conscription methods. Forty men were killed on the
spot. A 74-year-old man was later hanged for his part in the riot, but it was
discovered he was not in Hexham on the day in question.
Hexham Racecourse
Perched on Yarridge
Heights high above the historic market town, Hexham Racecourse has been the
home of National Hunt racing in Northumberland for well over a century. It is
now Northumberland's only racecourse.