NORTHUMBERLAND

NORTHUMBERLAND, an extensive county in England, situated on its northern extremity, on the borders of Scotland, from which it is separated partly by the river Tweed, which, during the latter part of its course, flows between this county and Berwickshire, and partly by a line supposed to be drawn over the mountainous region on the west and northwest, where it meets with Roxburghshire. The other boundaries are the German Ocean on the east, Durham on the south, Cumberland on the west, and on the north two small districts called Northamshire and Islandshire, which, though belonging by their situation to Northumberland, form a part of the county of Durham, along with another tract, called Bedlingtonshire, on the south-east. But in a general description, it is unnecessary to attend to these

Northumberland. distinctions. The Tweed may, therefore, be considered as the northern boundary of the county, and, in this case, it will include the towns of Berwick and Norham. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, on the north-east coast, which, in like manner, belongs to Durham, is situated about two miles from the mainland, opposite the mouth of the brook Lindis, and accessible to all kinds of conveyance at low water. Though about nine miles in circuit, it contains little more than 1000 acres, half of which is sand-banks. These several portions may extend to something more than 100 square miles, or about one-twentieth part of the whole. In this view, Northumberland is situated between $54^\{\backslash circ\}\; 51\text{'}$ and $55^\{\backslash circ\}\; 48\text{'}$ north latitude, and between $1^\{\backslash circ\}$ and $2^\{\backslash circ\}\; 27\text{'}$ west longitude from London. Its greatest extent from north to south is 64 miles, and from east to west, it varies from about 46 miles, which is its usual breadth between the river Tyne on the south and the Coquet on the north, till it terminates at Berwick, on the north, in a breadth of only five or six miles. According to the authors of the Agricultural Report, the extent of the whole is 1980 square miles, or 1,267,200 acres, of which nearly two-thirds may be fit for cultivation.

Divisions. It is divided into six wards, namely, Tindale, Coquetdale, Glendale, Bamborough, Morpeth, and Castle, the first three comprising the western and mountainous district, and the latter three the coast lands on the east. These last, though extending over only one-fourth of the county, are by far the most wealthy and populous, owing chiefly to the great coal-works in Castle ward, near the town of Newcastle, and along the banks of the Tyne. It contains five deanries and seventy-three parishes, all of which are in the archdeaconry of Northumberland and diocese of Durham.

Surface. All the western side of this county is mountainous, from the boundary with Durham on the south, almost to the valley of the Tweed on the north; but this extensive tract, comprising more than a third of the whole area, is not all of the same character; the northern, or Cheviot hills, extending to about 90,000 acres, being mostly all green nearly to their summits, enclosing many narrow but fertile glens, and affording excellent pastures for the breed of sheep, to which they have given their name; while those to the west and south are, in general, open, solitary wastes, covered with heath, and of very little value. On the coast, from the mouth of the Tyne to that of the Tweed, and also on the north, for its whole breadth from Belford to Mindrum, the country is, with few exceptions, level and rich, with a soil, in some places, a strong clay, and in others a dry loam; but almost every where very productive, under the enlightened system of cultivation which prevails so generally throughout Northumberland.

Rivers. The principal rivers are the Tyne, Blyth, Wansbeck, Coquet, Aln, and Tweed, all of which fall into the sea, carrying with them the tribute of many smaller streams. The Till, which empties itself into the Tweed, is also a considerable rivulet. The Tyne and Tweed are by far the most important, the tide flowing up the former sixteen miles, and up the latter eight or ten miles, while the navigation of the

other rivers is confined to a small distance from their mouths. Both of these have been long celebrated for their salmon-fisheries, which yield great rents, and afford a valuable article of trade with London, to which the fish are sent packed in pounded ice, by which means they are presented in the market in nearly as fresh a state as if they had been newly taken from the water.

Northumberland has been long distinguished for its subterranean treasures, the main source of its wealth and population. Of these, coal, which abounds in most parts of it, is by far the most important. It is of the best quality in the south-east quarter, on the banks of the Tyne, from whence those vast quantities are exported which supply the great consumption of the metropolis, as well as the coasting and foreign trade. In some years, the export from the port of Newcastle has amounted to upwards of 600,000 chaldrons of 53 cwt. each; and probably as much more has been sent from Sunderland and consumed in Northumberland and Durham,—the same coal field extending across the Tyne to the latter county. This coal is all of the kind called "caking coal," which melts and runs together in the fire, and, when of the best quality, leaves very few ashes. Calculations have been made as to the extent of this tract, the quantity which it may contain, and the period when it must be exhausted; but on this last point there is a great difference of opinion, some estimating that the supplies must cease in 300 years, some not in less than 800, while by others it is held to be almost inexhaustible. Of the coal found in Bamborough, Islandshire, and Glendale ward, the seams are, in general, thin, and the quality inferior, not caking or burning to a cinder, but yielding a great quantity of ashes. This is used only for home consumption and for burning limestone; for the latter purpose it is well adapted; and through all this district, coal and lime are generally found together. The south-east quarter, which is so rich in coal, is destitute of limestone. Lead-ore abounds in the mountains on the south-west, particularly towards the head of that branch of South Tyne called Allendale, where it has long been wrought to a considerable extent. Iron-ore is found in many parts; stone marl near Tweedside, shell marl in Glendale ward, and various sorts of sandstone, or freestone, are got in almost every quarter, some of it affording tolerable slates for roofing, and flags for floors. Excellent grindstones are raised in those sandstone quarries, of which a great many are exported from Camus and Warkworth.

The agriculture of Northumberland is an object only second in interest and importance to its coal-works. Almost all those branches of rural economy, for one or more of which other districts are celebrated, may here be found combined into one system, and conducted upon the same farms. One finds here the Leicester sheep and the short-horned cattle of Durham and Yorkshire, both in great perfection; the turnips of Norfolk cultivated upon the drill system of Scotland; the well dressed fallows of East Lothian and Berwickshire; and that regular alternation of tillage and grazing which is, of all other courses of cropping, the one best adapted to sustain

Northumberland and improve the productiveness of the soil. These remarks apply in an especial manner to the northern part of the county, where the farms are in general large, and the occupiers men of education and liberal acquirements. This quarter has been long distinguished as a school of agriculture to which pupils are sent, some of them gentlemen of fortune, from various parts;—a character for which it is eminently indebted, as well as for other distinctions, to the late Messrs Culley, who were among the most extensive and successful farmers in the kingdom. The common period of leases, at least in the northern district, is 21 years, though many are shorter, and on a few estates no leases are granted. In 1795 the rental was stated, conjecturally, at L. 605,000, in 1809 it was L. 916,857, 18s. 11½d. It is worthy of remark, that at Chillingham near Belford, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, there is a herd of wild cattle, perhaps the only remains of the ancient race to be now found in a pure state. An accurate description of them has been given in the Agricultural Report of Messrs Bailey and Culley.

Wild Cattle. Northumberland is not the seat of extensive manufactures; its principal establishments of this kind are derived from the coal trade, or connected with it, such as ship-building, roperies, forges, &c. On the Tyne there are a great many glass-houses, which a few years ago paid a duty of L. 180,000 yearly; and Hexham has been long noted for its manufacture of gloves.

Manufactures. The principal towns are Newcastle, North Shields, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick, Norham, and Wooler. The county sends two members to Parliament, and Newcastle, Morpeth, and Berwick, two each,—eight in all. Northumberland contains a great many elegant seats; but for these, and for its history and antiquities, we must refer to the Beauties of England, Vol. XII., and the works there enumerated.

Principal Towns, Population, &c. The census of 1811 gives the following returns for this county: