a town of Northumberland, situated near the conflux of the north and south Tyne. It is commonly supposed to be the Alexodunum of the Romans, where the first cohort of the Spaniards were in garrison. It was made a bishop's see by Etheldreda, wife of King Egirid, in the year 675. Its first bishop St Wilfred built here a most magnificent cathedral and monastery, and it was possessed by seven bishops successively; but being very much infested by the Danes, the see was removed to York. The town and priory were destroyed by the Scots in 1296, and pillaged again in 1346. There was a remarkable and bloody battle fought near this town between the houses of Lancaster and York, wherein the former were defeated, chiefly by the extraordinary bravery and conduct of John Nevil, Lord Montacute, who was for that reason created earl of Northumberland. The present town is not populous, and the streets are narrow, with ill built houses. The market-place, near the centre of the town is a spacious square, and is supplied by a fountain with water. Among the remains of ancient structures is a gateway of ancient architecture, leading to the priory, but of a much older date. There are two ancient towers in the town, one of which is used as a fensons-house, and was formerly an exploratory tower; the other is on the top of a hill towards the Tyne, of remarkable architecture, which has been much higher than at present, and has two dungeons within it, besides several chambers with very little narrow windows. The town has a charity or grammar school. It was in 1571 annexed to the county of Cumberland: but only in civil matters; for its ecclesiastical jurisdiction is not the same with the rest of the county, it being still a peculiar belonging to the archbishop of York; and the common people still call the neighbouring county Hexhamshire. It is a corporation governed by a bailiff.