Kirknewton: History in the College Valley

Kirknewton lies at the entrance to the College Valley in Glendale, at the northernmost edge of Northumberland National Park. The village consists of farm buildings and cottages and combines an impressive landscape with an unusual wealth of traces from prehistory, the Roman period and the Anglo-Saxon era. For families wishing to combine nature and discovery, Kirknewton therefore provides a characterful base for days out planned around a range of interests.

Village character and distinctive landscape

Kirknewton is the only Conservation Area in Northumberland National Park. Kirknewton Conservation Area was established in 1996 to protect and enhance the area’s special architectural and historic interest. The display cases in the committee room of Kirknewton Village Hall also offer an insight into the local past. They contain artefacts from the former school on the site of the new hall, as well as mementoes from a railway family. These date from the period when the Alnwick–Cornhill railway line ran through Kirknewton.

Visitors are welcome in the College Valley on foot, on horseback or by bicycle. Vehicles beyond the free car park at Hethpool, however, are restricted to permit holders. This distinction is useful when choosing holiday accommodation in Kirknewton: anyone wishing to experience the landscape actively can take the mode of transport and the relevant starting point into account when planning each day. The native woodlands of the College Valley provide shelter for deer, hares and wild goats.

Hillforts, palaces and archaeological traces

The history around Kirknewton cannot be reduced to a single building. Nearby Yeavering Bell is home to the remains of the region’s largest Iron Age hillfort. The platforms of more than one hundred timber-built roundhouses are visible there. The car park for Yeavering Bell is located at the Gefrin lay-by on the B6351 between Wooler and Kirknewton. The Hethpool Linn and Yeavering Bell Walk also passes a spectacular waterfall.

Gefrin, also close to Kirknewton, has outstanding historical significance: in the 7th century, the site was the palace of King Edwin of Northumbria and his successors. Ad Gefrin preserves extensive archaeological deposits dating from the Neolithic to the Anglo-Saxon era. The significance of the surviving remains is enhanced by their historical relationship with the nearby Anglo-Saxon palace of Maelmin.

Further evidence lies between White Law and Yeavering Bell. Enclosed settlements, hut circles and field systems are well preserved there; together they form an extensive area of Iron Age and Romano-British settlements with associated field systems. Nearby North Black Hagg is a well-preserved prehistoric fortified settlement. The full course of its two ramparts, as well as traces of stone and timber building foundations, is clearly visible. East of Hethpool Linn there is also a well-preserved native settlement dating from the Roman period, with significant archaeological deposits.

Church, memorial sites and dark skies

The Kirknewton Hillfort Trail begins at St Gregory’s Church. The parish church was frequently damaged by enemy armies and raiders. Set into its wall north of the chancel arch is an ancient stone relief depicting the Adoration of the Magi. The churchyard contains the grave of Josephine Butler, remembered as a social reformer, as well as war graves of young airmen who died during flights from Milfield airbase during the Second World War.

For a quieter evening, Kirknewton Village Hall is designated as a Dark Sky Discovery Site and is suitable for observing the dark skies over Northumberland National Park. Another historical detail leads up to the summit of Easter Tor: a bronze socketed axe found there in 1904 suggests that the summit was once a sacred site. The possible focus of a trip therefore ranges from landscapes and wildlife watching to archaeological questions and local remembrance.

Further places to search

If you would like to compare destinations besides Kirknewton, you can find additional pages here: Cornhill-On-Tweed, Holburn Village, Hepple, Slaggyford, Edlingham, Chatton, Boulmer and Cramlington.

Kirknewton can be reached by car from north of Wooler via the A697; at Akeld, turn onto the B6351. There is a car park beside the Village Hall. Anyone looking for holiday accommodation can therefore choose Kirknewton as a rural base for a trip combining historic discoveries, paths through the College Valley and a clearly defined village character.

For the higher-level travel overview: Northumberland.