Place:Eglingham, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Eglingham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, situated about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Alnwick and 10 miles (16 km) from Wooler. The village lies in the sheltered valley of the Eglingham Burn, a tributary of the River Aln, about 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level, in a rural conservation area set amongst rolling countryside, within 5 miles (8 km) of the Cheviot Hills. The village is surrounded by mainly arable farmland, moorland and woodland.

The village has about 60 dwellings and a population of about 100, most situated either side of the through-road, and including the local manorial property, Eglingham Hall.

As a parish Eglingham is about nine miles (14 km) in length by four and a half in breadth, with an area of 23,361 acres (94.54 km2).

The parish is largely agricultural, although gravel extraction continues to the west. In 2011, the UK census reported a population for the parish of 385. Villages in the parish also serve as bases for commuters working in Alnwick and Newcastle upon Tyne.

In addition to agriculture, the parish's population was also engaged in mining coal and quarrying limestone and freestone, all of which are described as being available in abundance. A nineteenth-century travellers' guide describes a stream of water which "is turned black as common ink by an infusion of galls". Eglingham colliery closed in November 1897, after becoming unprofitable owing to the costs of removing water from the main coal seams at Black Hill.

end of Wikipedia contribution

Eglingham was an ancient parish in the Coquetdale Ward which also became a civil parish in the 19th century. From 1894 until 1974 the parish was part of Alnwick Rural District. In 1955 the surrounding parishes of Bassington, Ditchburn, Harehope, and Shipley (which had all been townships in the ancient parish), plus the parishes of North Charlton and South Charlton were all absorbed into Eglingham. In 1974 rural districts were abolished and Eglingham became part of the Alnwick District until 2009 when Northumberland became a unitary authority.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Eglingham from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"EGLINGHAM, a township in Alnwick [registration] district, and a parish partly also in Glendale [registration] district, Northumberland. The township lies between the rivers Alne and Breamish, 6 miles NW of Alnwick [railway] station; and has a post office under Alnwick. Acres: 1,946. Population: 363. Houses: 73.

"The parish contains also the townships of [see below]. Acres: 23,361. Real property: £19,097; of which £62 are in mines. Population: 1,845. Houses: 339. The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to the Ogles. Much of the surface is moorland. Limestone, freestone, and coal abound. A mineral spring, impregnated with vitriol, issues from an old coal draining-drift. A lake of five acres, called Keemer Lough, is rich in perch and very large pike. There are ruins of an old Border tower, and vestiges of British and Roman camps. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the archdeaconship of Lindisfarne, in the diocese of Durham. Value: £835. The church is good; and there is a Presbyterian chapel."

Townships in parish

• Bassington
• Beanley
• Brandon
• Branton
• Crawley
• Ditchburn
• East Lilburn
• Harehope
• Hedgeley
• New Bewick
• Old Bewick
• Shipley
• Titlington
• West Lilburn
• Wooperton

Research Tips

• Northumberland Archives previously known as Northumberland Collections Service and Northumberland County Record Office. Now based within Woodhorn Museum in Ashington and providing free access to numerous records for local and family historians alike.

Full postal address: Museum and Northumberland Archives, Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9YF; Phone: 01670 624455

There is a branch office in Berwick upon Tweed.

• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and County Durham. The Family History Society have a research centre in Percy House in central Newcastle upon Tyne (full address on website), open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1832 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time. This map includes the boundaries of the various Wards (or "hundreds") in existence at that time.
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.
• Unfortunately, there is no Victoria County History for Northumberland.