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Coordinates: 54°58′16″N 2°06′04″W / 54.971°N 2.101°W / 54.971; -2.101

Hexham
Hexham Abbey
Hexham  Hexham shown within Northumberland
Population	11,446 (2001)
OS grid reference	NY9363
Civil parish	Hexham
Unitary authority	Northumberland
Ceremonial county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HEXHAM
Postcode district	NE46
Dialling code	01434
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Hexham
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Hexham ( /ˈhɛksəm/ HEKS-əm) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was the largest. In 2001 Hexham had a population of 11,446.^[1]

There are many smaller towns and villages that surround Hexham, such as Corbridge, Riding Mill, Stocksfield, Wylam to the east, Acomb and Bellingham to the north, Allendale to the south and Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle to the west. The closest major city to Hexham is Newcastle upon Tyne which is about 25 miles (40 km) to the east.

History[link]

Hexham Abbey originated as a monastery founded by Saint Wilfrid in 674. The crypt of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman ruins, probably Coria or Hadrian's Wall. The current Hexham Abbey dates largely from the 11th century onward, but was significantly rebuilt in the 19th century. Other notable buildings in the town include the Moot Hall, the covered market, and the Old Gaol.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Manuscript D: Cotton Tiberius B IV) records the murder of King Ælfwald by Sicga at Scythlecester (which may be modern Chesters) on 23 September 788:

This year Alfwald, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by Siga, on the ninth^[2] day before the calends of October; and a heavenly light was often seen on the spot where he was slain. He was buried at Hexham in the church.^[3]
Her wæs Alfwald Norðhymbra cyning ofslægen fram Sigan on .viiii. Kalendas Octobris, 7 heofonlic leoht wæs lome gesewen þær þær he ofslægen wæs, 7 he wæs bebyrged on Hagustaldesee innan þære cyrican.

The name of Hexham derives from the Old English Hagustaldes ea and later Hagustaldes ham whence the modern form (with the "-ham" element) derives. Hagustald is related to the Old High German hagustalt, denoting a younger son who takes land outside the settlement; the element ea means "stream" or "river" and ham is the Old English form of the Modern English "home" (and the Scots and Northern English "hame").^[4][5]

Like many towns in the Anglo-Scottish border area and adjacent regions, Hexham suffered from the border wars between the kingdoms of Scotland and England, including attacks from William Wallace who burnt the town in 1297. In 1312, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, demanded and received £2000 from the town and monastery in order for them to be spared a similar fate. In 1346 the monastery was sacked in a later invasion led by King David II of Scotland.

In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Hexham was fought somewhere to the south of the town; the actual site is disputed. The defeated Lancastrian commander Duke of Somerset was executed in Hexham market place. There is a legend that Queen Margaret of Anjou took refuge after the battle in what is known as The Queen's Cave where she was accosted by a robber; the legend formed the basis for an 18th century play by George Colman the Younger; but it has been established that Queen Margaret had fled to France by the time the battle took place.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hexham. Photo credit: Peter Brooks

Until 1572, Hexham was the administrative centre of the former Liberty or Peculiar of Hexhamshire.

In 1715, James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, raised the standard for James Francis Edward Stuart in Hexham Market place. The rising, however, was unsuccessful, and Derwentwater was captured and beheaded after the Battle of Preston.

In 1761, the Hexham Riot^[6] took place in the Market Place when a crowd protesting about changes in the criteria for serving in the militia was fired upon by troops from North Yorkshire Militia. Fifty-one protesters were killed, earning the Militia the soubriquet of The Hexham Butchers.

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hexham was a centre of the leather trade, particularly renowned for making gloves known as Hexham Tans - now the name of a vegetarian restaurant in the town.

"Hexham" was used in the Borders as a euphemism for "Hell". Hence the term "To Hexham wi’ you an’ ye’r whussel!", recorded in 1873, and the popular expresion "Gang to Hexham!".^[7] "Hexham-birnie" is derived from the term and means "an indefinitely remote place".^[7][8]

Notable buildings[link]

Hexham's architectural landscape is dominated by Hexham Abbey. The current church largely dates from c.1170–1250, in the Early English Gothic style of architecture. The choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period. The east end was rebuilt in 1860.

The Abbey stands at the west end of the market place, which is home to the Shambles a Grade II* covered market built in 1766 by Sir Walter Blackett.

East end of Hexham Abbey

At the east end of the market place stands the Moot Hall, a c15 gatehouse that was part of the defences of the town. The Moot Hall is a Grade I listed building, and was used as a courthouse until 1838. The Moot Hall now houses the Council offices of the Museums Department, though not open to the public any relevant enquiries can be made on the first floor. The ground floor is an art gallery open to hire.

The Old Gaol, behind the Moot Hall on Hallgates, was one of the first purpose built jails in England. It was built between 1330-3 and is a Grade I listed Scheduled Monument. It was ordered to be built by the Archbishop of York. The building is now home to the Old Gaol museum which informs the visitor about the how the prisoners were kept at this time and how they were punished. There is also information concerning the local families of time, such as the Charlton and Fenwick families who still have descendants living in the area. There are many different displays in the museum of interest to the whole family. The museum also contains the Border History Library, where people are free to visit to research their family history.

Governance[link]

Hexham is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham. Guy Opperman has been the member of parliament for Hexham since May 2010. The town is part of Northumberland County Council and contains 3 wards: Hexham East, Hexham Central with Acomb and Hexham West. The councillors are Ingrid Brook, Terry Robson and Derek Kennedy respectively.

Local media[link]

Beaumont Street in Hexham with the Courant Offices

The Hexham Courant is the local newspaper, serving Hexham and Tynedale since 1864. It was first launched by J. Catherall & Co., and at that time espoused the Liberal cause. It later absorbed the Conservative-supporting Hexham Herald. In 1977, CN Group had taken over the business and has since continued to grow.

From within the Hexham Courant office a webcam over-looking Hexham Abbey can be viewed on the following website: Hexham Courant Hexham also has a town webportal called HexhamNet HexhamNet. It was first launched in October 2003 and continues to attract web visitors from all over the world. It is managed by the Hexham Courant on behalf of the Hexham Community Partnership. The website is part of the North East Regional Webportal project whereby most of the market towns in the North East of England were to have a virtual gateway for attracting both local and external visitors to the website.

Transport[link]

Road[link]

Hexham is bypassed to the north by the A69 road, linking it with Carlisle to the west and Newcastle to the east, which bypasses the original route, the A695. There are frequent bus services to Newcastle; regular services to Carlisle; and infrequent services to other places e.g. Alston and Bellingham.

Rail[link]

The town is served by Hexham railway station on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, also known as the Tyne Valley Line. The line - part of the UK publicly owned national rail network - was opened in 1838, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear with Carlisle in Cumbria. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Northumberland.

Passenger services on the Tyne Valley Line are operated by Northern Rail and First ScotRail, which currently hold national franchises. The line is also heavily used for freight.

The station forms part of Hexham Transport Interchange.

Air[link]

Newcastle Airport is about 12 miles (19 km) away, and provides 19 daily flights to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City), with regular flights to other UK centres. The airport also operates regular flights to many European destinations, along with destinations in Africa and North America.

Local services[link]

A special tourist bus operates from Hexham tourist office up to the main sites on Hadrian's Wall - the route number is AD122 - the date of the building of the wall.

Hexham is also serviced by several taxi firms operating from two taxi ranks in the town: one in the town centre on Priestpopple, and one at Hexham railway station.

Awards[link]

Hexham won the Town award in the 2005 Britain in Bloom awards. In the same year Hexham was also named * 'England's Favourite Market Town' by the magazine Country Life.

Economy[link]

Hexham had been long famous for its manufacture of leather. Wright (1823) gives some statistics — 77 men & boys employed as Leather dressers and Glove-cutters, 40 boys employed as Dusters and 1,111 women employed as Sewers. Skins dressed annually were 80,000, and 18,000 skins of dressed leather were imported. From these were made and exported annually 23,504 dozens of pairs of gloves. Dutch Oker was used in the processing, but local fell clay could be used if necessary. Tanning was a necessary allied industry and there were four tanneries, employing a score of men. In a year they dealt with 5,000 hides and 12,000 calf skins. They supplied local saddlers, bootmakers and cobblers. Hexham also had 16 master hatters, and the trade employed 40 persons. There were two woollen manufactories, worked by steam power and two rope manufactories. There were corn water mills below the bridge. A windmill on the Seal was ruinous, but there was one still working on Tyne Green. It was, and still is a flourishing market, including a mart for cattle and other farm animals.^[9]

In Hexham the Subskimmer was designed and made by Submarine Products. The town is also the site of a chipboard factory owned by the Austrian firm Egger Retail Products GmbH.

Sport[link]

Hexham has a notably picturesque racecourse at Yarridge Heights in the hills above the town, with National Hunt (steeplechase) races throughout the year

Twin towns[link]

• Metzingen, Germany
• Noyon, France

Notable people[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Lived in Hexham

• Ann Cook (fl. 1760), innkeeper and author of Professed cookery, see Hannah Glasse
• Mark Elder, conductor
• Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, poet
• Hannah Glasse (1708–1770), cookery writer, best known for The Art of Cookery
• Robson Green, actor
• William Hewson, surgeon and anatomist
• John of Hexham, chronicler
• Joseph Parker (1830–1902), Congregationalist preacher and writer
• Richard of Hexham, chronicler
• Dorothy Samuelson-Sandvid (Dorfy), noted Geordie Dialect author, born South Shields
• Matt Wells, Olympic rower

Born in Hexham

• Ailred of Rievaulx, Cistercian abbot, author of "Spiritual Friendship," "On the Saints of Hexham," and other spiritual and historical works ^[10]
• Daniel Ainsleigh, actor
• Martyn Amos (born 1971), academic and author, currently at Manchester Metropolitan University, born in Hexham
• Glenn Brown (born 1966), artist, nominated for the Turner Prize in 2000
• Dave Cliff (born 1944), jazz guitarist
• Pete Doherty (born 1979), musician, The Libertines and Babyshambles
• Andy Duncan, footballer, Cambridge United
• Gabriel Fielding, novelist
• Fraser Forster, footballer, Newcastle United
• Norman Graham (born 1943), cricketer who played for Kent, born at Hexham
• Ken Graveney (born 1924), cricketer, captain of Gloucestershire, born Hexham
• Joe Kirkup (born 1939), footballer
• Frank Lees (1931–1999), chemical engineer, professor at Loughborough University
• Lewy Pattinson (1852–1944), Australian businessman
• William Peel (colonial administrator) (born 1875), colonial administrator, Governor of Hong Kong
• Vanessa Raw, a professional triathlete and artist
• Joseph Richardson (British politician), 'Well-natured Richardson', writer and MP
• James Robb (RAF officer) (1895–1968), Air Chief Marshal, and was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, 1945–1947
• Keith Ward (born 1938) Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University
• Kevin Whately (born 1951), actor, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Peak Practice, Inspector Morse, and Lewis

See also[link]

• Hexham Bridge
• Hexham Old Bridge
• Hexham railway station
• Hexham Old Gaol
• St Joseph's R.C. Middle School
• Devil's Water
• Hexham (UK Parliament constituency)
• Ailred of Rievaulx
• Acca of Hexham
• Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle
• Eata of Hexham
• Richard of Hexham
• John of Hexham
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
• Battle of Hexham
• Battle of Heavenfield
• Battle of Neville's Cross
• Robbs

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Hexham tourist information
• Hexham information & business directory
• Hexham Abbey
• Enjoy Hexham
• HexhamNet
• Hexham Courant the local newspaper
• Tynedale District Council Website
• Hexham International Combined Events (Decathlon) Meeting Since 1997
• Tynedale Harriers & Athletics Club
• Northumberland County Council Website
• Queen Elizabeth High School
• Queen Elizabeth High School Rowing Club
• Hexham Rowing Club
• Tynedale Hockey club
• Hexham Trinity Methodist Church
• Hexham and District Photographic Society
• Hexham Tyne Bridge Webcam
• Hexham Photos ~ Northumberland Cam
• Queens Hall Arts Centre
• Hexham Local History Society
• Hexham Squash Club
• Tynedale Tennis Club - Hexham
• Hexham Leazes Cricket Club
• Northumbrian Railways
• Hexham Racecourse
• Images of Hexham Castle Site, Moot Hall & Old Gaol
• GENUKI (Accessed: 10 November 2008)
• Northumberland Communities (Accessed: 10 November 2008)