an extensive county in England, situated on its northern extremity, upon 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 W. and N.W., where it meets with Roxburghshire. The other boundaries are the German Ocean on the E., Durham on the S., and Cumberland on the W. On the N. are two small districts called Norhamshire and Islandshire, which, though belonging by their situation to Northumberland, formed a part of the county of Durham, along with another tract called Bedlingtonshire, on the S.E. By a recent act of Parliament these have been united to Northumberland, and the Tweed has thus become the northern boundary of the county. The town of Berwick, also on the N. of the Tweed, has been added to Northumberland for election purposes, but has still a separate jurisdiction, with a sheriff of its own. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, on the N.E. coast, which in like manner belonged to Durham, is situated about two miles from the mainland, opposite to the mouth of the brook Lindis, and accessible to all kinds of conveyance at low-water. Although about nine miles in circuit, it contains little more than 1000 acres, the half of which is sand-banks. In this view, Northumberland is situated between 54° 48' and 55° 42' N. Lat, and between 1° 25' and 2° 41' W. Long. Its greatest extent from N. to S. is 64 miles, and from E. to W. it varies from about 46 miles, which is its usual breadth between the River Tyne on the S. and the Coquet on the N., till it terminates at the town of Berwick on the N., in a breadth of only 5 or 6 miles. The area is 1952 square miles, or 1,249,299 acres. Nearly one-third of the county is scarcely capable of beneficial cultivation.

It is divided into six wards, namely, Tyndale, Coquetdale, Glendale, Bamborough, Morpeth, and Castle; the first three comprising the western and mountainous district, and the second three the coast lands on the E. Besides these, Northumberland includes the county of Newcastle. The Northam-maritime wards, 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 deaneries and seventy-three parishes, all of which are in the archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham.

All the western side of this county is mountainous, from the boundary of Durham on the S. almost to the valley of the Tweed on the N.; 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 for the most part green nearly to their summits, comprehending many narrow but fertile glens, and affording excellent pastures for the breed of sheep to which they have given their name; whilst those to the W. and S. are, in general, open solitary wastes, covered with heath, and of very little value. Along the coast, from the mouth of the Tyne to that of the Tweed, the country is, with few exceptions, level and rich, with a soil which, in some places, is a strong clay, and in others a dry loam, but almost everywhere very productive, under the enlightened system of cultivation which prevails so generally throughout Northumberland. The climate of Northumberland is colder, and the time of harvest later, than in the more southerly parts of England. The western and upland regions are cold and bleak; but near the sea, although chill east winds sometimes prevail, the temperature is considerably milder and warmer. The coast is generally low, and has numerous bays and headlands; while near to the mainland there are several small islands which are included in the county.

The principal rivers of the county are the Tyne, Blyth, Wansbeck, Coquet, Alan, and the 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 the Tweed are by far the most important, the tide flowing up the former 16 miles, and up the latter 8 or 10 miles; whilst the navigation of the other rivers is confined to a small distance from their mouths. Both of these have long been celebrated for their salmon fisheries, which are, however, much less productive than formerly. Those on the Tyne barely supply the local consumption, but the Tweed fisheries 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 long been distinguished for its subterranean treasures, which are the main source of its wealth and cause of its populousness. 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-eastern quarter, on the banks of the Tyne, whence those vast quantities are exported which supply the great consumption of the metropolis, as well as other British and foreign ports. The 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 little ashes. Calculations have been made as to the extent of this tract, the quantity of coal which it may contain, and the period when it must be exhausted; but upon this latter point there is a great difference of opinion, some estimating that the supplies must cease in three hundred years, some not in less than eight hundred, whilst 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 nor burning to a cinder, but yielding a great quantity of ashes. This is used only for home consumption and for burning limestone, a purpose for which it is well adapted. Through all this district coal and lime are generally found together; but the south-eastern quarter, which is so rich in coal, is destitute of limestone. Lead ore abounds in the mountains on the S.W., 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 obtained in almost every quarter, some of it affording tolerable flags for roofing and for floors. In the sandstone quarries excellent grindstones are obtained, and a great many are exported.

The agriculture of Northumberland is an object which is 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, in great perfection, the Leicester and Southdown sheep and the short-horned cattle of Durham and Yorkshire; 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 and even to 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. The common period of leases, at least in the northern district, is twenty-one years, although many are shorter, and upon a few estates no leases are granted. By the account taken for the purpose of levying the property-tax in the year 1843, it was found that the annual value of the real property amounted to £1,542,434. It may be worthy of remark here, that at the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, called Chillingham Castle, there still exist in the forest some remains of the herds of wild cattle which are supposed to have formerly abounded in this island, and to have been the origin of our race of cows.

This county is traversed by two principal lines of railway, extending from Newcastle, the one northwards along the coast to Berwick, and the other westwards to Carlisle. The length of the former, which is entirely in Northumberland, is 66 miles, while the latter extends 41 miles before it leaves the county. There are also shorter lines connecting Newcastle with North Shields, Tynemouth, and Blyth.

Northumberland is not eminently a manufacturing county. Some wool-combing is carried on at Hexham, and some thread is spun in the villages; but the chief branches of manufacturing industry are those that depend upon the collieries, and are chiefly carried on within and around the town of Newcastle, to which head in this work the reader is referred.

Of all the English counties none is so rich as this in remains of the Roman era. Among these, the most important is the famous wall built by Agricola against the Picts, and subsequently repaired and improved by Hadrian and Severus. It extends across the S. of the county from the Tyne to the Solway Firth. There is a great Roman road running northwards through Northumberland into Scotland; and there are, besides, many Roman camps and stations.

The population of the county at the six decennial enumerations has been as follows:—In 1801 it amounted to 168,078, in 1811 to 183,269, in 1821 to 212,559, in 1831 to 236,959, in 1841 to 266,020, and in 1851 to 303,568. The number of inhabited houses in 1851 was 47,737. Northumberland contained, in 1851, 488 churches, with 135,065 sittings. Of these, 154 belonged to the Church of England, 198 to Methodist sects, 68 to Presbyterians, 20 to Roman Catholics, and 14 to Independents. There were also 359 Sunday schools—131 Episcopalian, 115 Methodist, 55 Presbyterian, and 18 Independent. The number of scholars was 29,687. Of ordinary schools there were 642, with 37,289 scholars.

The title of Duke of this county belongs to the family of Percy, which passed into the female line in the last century. The Earl of Carlisle derives his second title from the town of Morpeth. This county is included in the northern circuit. The assizes are held at Newcastle twice a year, and the quarter-sessions successively at Newcastle, Morpeth, Hexham, and Alnwick. For the purposes of election two divisions are formed, each returning two members. The elections for the northern division are held at Alnwick, and the polling-places are, besides that town, Berwick, Elsdon, Morpeth, and Wooler; for the southern they are held at Hexham, and the other polling-places are Bellingham, Haltwhistle, Newcastle, and Stamfordham. Besides Newcastle and Berwick, each of which returns two members, Morpeth, which, previous to the Reform Bill, had two members, still retains one. By the same act one member was given to the borough of Tynemouth, which includes the town of North Shields, with a considerable rural district around it. The towns containing more than 2000 inhabitants, with their population in 1851, were the following:—

| Town | Population | |---------------|------------| | Newcastle | 87,784 | | Tynemouth | 22,170 | | Berwick | 15,694 | | Morpeth | 10,012 | | Alnwick | 6931 | | Hexham | 4601 | | Blyth | 2060 |

The noblemen's and gentlemen's seats are generally handsome edifices, but those especially worthy of mention are Alnwick Castle, the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, and Chillingham Castle, that of the Earl of Tankerville. Alnwick Castle is at present undergoing most extensive improvements at an enormous cost, which, when completed (in about 1860), will render it the most complete and magnificent baronial residence in England. Lord Ravensworth resides at Eslington Park during a portion of the year, but his principal seat is Ravensworth Castle, in the county of Durham. Howick Hall is a handsome building by Paine, under whose superintendence many of the mansions of the Northumbrian gentry were rebuilt about the middle of the last century. Bamburgh Castle, an ancient royal fortress, and the seat of the Northumbrian kings during the Heptarchy, came into the possession of Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, who left extensive estates to trustees for charitable purposes. The castle has been restored and fitted up for the occasional residence of the trustees. Ford Castle was rebuilt about a century ago by the late Lord Delaval. It is now the property of the Marquis of Waterford, whose agent occupies the castle. The modern additions are in bad taste, but there are interesting remains of the ancient fabric, long the residence of the noted border family of Heron. The remains of castles now in ruins are Norham, Etal, Dunstanburgh, Warkworth, Prudhoe, Langley, and Thirlwall, with many others of minor importance. Of Wark and Mitford little remains but the foundations. Bothal has been fitted up as a residence for the agent of the Duke of Portland; and Morpeth for the agent of Lord Carlisle.