About Alnwick, Northumberland
Alnwick, Northumberland is currently the seat of the Percy family, who
have held the town since 1309 when the town was handed over from the De Vescis - a family who had previously been in possession of
the town for over two centuries.
According to Country Life in 2002, the picturesque market town of Alnwick in Northumberland is "the best place to live in Great Britain".
With a population of around 7,000 it is located 32 miles south of the Scottish border & 5 miles inland from the North Sea at Alnmouth. It
lies at 55°25 00 N, 01°42 00 W upon the river Aln & dates back to approximately 600AD and despite much of the town being razed to
the ground in 1424 by Scottish invaders, over the centuries it has thrived as an agricultural town, the location of Alnwick Castle and
home of the Earls of Northumberland, as a stopping place on the Great North Road between Edinburgh & London.
Despite it's recent
growth it still has much of its original character. Most recently it has become a modern rural communter town. It is twinned with Bryne in
Norway, Lagny-sur-Marne in France and the German town Voerde.
With Newcastle upon Tyne being an hour's drive away, many of the predominantly rural population of Alnwick work in the city,
however there are several noteable employers including Sanofi Synthelabo - a pharmeceuticals company, Hardy's of Alnwick who make
high calibre fishing rods, and Northumberland Estates which is an agicultural operation run by the Duke. The old railway station now
houses Barter Books, which is now one of the biggest used books shop in Europe. The rather grand railway station was in use until the
late sixties when the line closed. This grandeur owes to the Royal family having regularly used the station when visiting the Duke of
Northumberland at the castle. The rail network can now be accessed via the Alnmouth railway station which lies around five miles west
of the town towards the coast.
Alnwick town centre is made up of beautiful stone buildings varying in age. In the very middle of the town centre there is a Market place, which once was the location of an agricultural market. Around the market place is a network of both expansive cobble lined streets and tiny ornated lanes. Amongst these streets is Narrowgate, Fenkle Street and Bondgate which is divided into two parts, within and without, by one of the original gates to the old town wall. Named after Harry Hotspur - once Earl of Northumberland - a main character in Shakespeare's Henry the Fourth, the tower now restricts vehicles entering and leaving the town.
Alnwick Castle which looms over the town is the home of the Percy family, the Duke of Northumberland & the world famous Alnwick
Garden. It dominates the west of Alnwick above the river Aln. the castle is home to commerce, education & tourism - It currently
provides an education centre for American students studying in Europe; is the HQ of Northumberland Estates, & is a tourist attraction of
its own. Open from April to September (the Gardens all year round), it is the second biggest inhabited castle in England after Windsor
Castle. Benjamin Disraeli once described Alnwick as 'Montacute'. the castle is popular with TV & film-makers, with Blackadder, Robin
Hood, Prince of Thieves, Elizabeth all filmed here. Most famously, Alnwick Castle found fame as Hogwart's school of witchcraft and
wizardry in the Harry Potter films.
Another fine building in the town centre is the gothic Pottergate tower. This is a beautiful ornate gatehouse was built in the eighteenth century on the site of the original gate. It once had an elegant spire, but this proved to be quite delicate and was destroyed a short time after it was built by a storm. The Playhouse is an all purpose arts centre, which contains a theatre, a cinema and a gallery.
The weekly newspaper is the Northumberland Gazette which covers the town and the district & they have their head office in the town. Alnwick has numerous opportunites for leisure & sports which include the new Willowburn leisure centre, football rugby and cricket clubs. Because of the nature of the area there is also scope for rock climbing, walking, water sports, horse riding, cycling & there are also dozens of golf courses in the area.
Because of the proximity of Alnwick to the Scottish border wars between the Percy family representing the English and the Scots were commonplace in Alnwick. At every turn across the town there are memorials to these wars, one of which can be found on the riverbank facing Alnwick Castle which celebrates the slaying of King Malcolm of Scotland in 1093 on that very spot, and another on the lead up to Hulne Park is a memorial to the place where William the Lion of Scotland was captured by the English armies in the 12th century.
Amongst the other attractions in the town are Brizlee Tower, which is an ornate folly which looks down on Hulne park, the private estate which was designed by Robert Adam and built in the 18th century, The White Swan, a hotel, the original of which was built in the 1700s, and which features the lounge taken out of the Olympic, the sister ship from the Titanic when it was broken up after its sinking for fears of a repeat, the Northumberland Fusiliers museum which is housed in Alnwick Castle and the Percy tenantry column which was built in the 19th century in thanks to the Duke of Northumberland of the time.
The Shrove-tide football match is held annually on the banks of the river Aln overlooked by the castle on Shrove Tuesday. Two of the town's parishes compete to be the first to score 3 'hales' (goals). The match is kicked off by the Duke of Northumberland tossing the ball from the castle ramparts. Other annual events include an International music festival for which people travel from far and wide to take part, a re-enactment of a mediaeval fair where all attendees dress up in period outfits, and a mediaeval tournament which is held beneath the castle and comprises jousting and various other mediaeval entertainments
.
Amongst the famous people born in Alnwick are George Biddell Airy who was the Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881, The philosopher
Bernard Bosanquet, and the geologist Ralph Tate. |
