The town dates to about AD 600 and thrived as an agricultural centre. Alnwick Castle was the home of the most powerful medieval northern baronial family, the Earls of Northumberland. It was a staging post on the Great North Road between Edinburgh and London. The town centre has changed relatively little, but the town has seen some growth, with several housing estates covering what had been pasture, and new factory and trading estate developments along the roads to the south.
The history of Alnwick is the history of the castle and its lords, starting with Gilbert Tyson (written variously as "Tison", "Tisson", and "De Tesson"), one of William the Conqueror's standard-bearers, upon whom this northern estate was bestowed. It was held by the De Vesci family (now spelt "Vasey" – a name found all over south-east Northumberland) for over 200 years, and then passed into the hands of the House of Percy in 1309.[4]
The castle was founded as a timber structure by Ivo de Vesci in about 1096. In 1136 it is first recorded as being captured by David I of Scotland. In 1147, Alnwick Abbey was founded for Premonstratensian canons, a short distance west of the castle.[5] At about the same time, the castle was rebuilt in stone.[6]
At various points in the town are memorials of the constant wars with the Scots, in which so many Percys spent the greater part of their lives. A cross near Broomhouse Hill across the river from the castle marks the spot where Malcolm III of Scotland was killed, during the first Battle of Alnwick in 1093. At the side of the broad shady road called Ratten Row, leading from the West Lodge to Bailiffgate, a stone tablet marks the spot where William the Lion of Scotland was captured during the second Battle of Alnwick in 1174 by a party of about 400 mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill.[7]
Hulne Priory, outside the town walls in Hulne Park, the Duke of Northumberland's walled estate, was a friary founded in about 1240 for the Carmelites by William de Vesci.[8] It is said that the site was chosen for some slight resemblance to Mount Carmel where the order originated.[9]
In 1314, Sir John Felton was governor of Alnwick.[10] During the 14th century the Percys did extensive work on the castle, adding new towers in the outer wall, strong gates to the wall and keep, and new domestic apartments.[6] After the Percys challenged King Henry IV, the king moved against their castles, taking Alnwick in 1403, despite its improvements.
In winter 1424, much of the town was burnt by a Scottish raiding party. Again in 1448, the town was burnt by a Scottish army led by William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas and George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus. Following these setbacks, in the 15th century both monastic houses gained defensive towers and the town was walled.[11]
In addition to the threat from Scotland, Alnwick was heavily contested in the Wars of the Roses.[12] It was held for Henry VI until the Lancastrian collapse of 1461, when it fell to Edward IV. That winter the Lancastrians recaptured it, but in July 1462 the Yorkists retook it. By the autumn the Lancastrians were again in possession, and quickly came under Yorkist siege. Despite Franco-Scottish reinforcements, the Lancastrians abandoned the castle to the Yorkists in January 1463, though by May they had regained it through betrayal. On 23 June it was surrendered to the Yorkists for the final time.[13] According to historian Dan Spencer, this made Alnwick the most besieged place in the country in the Wars of the Roses.[14]Sir Thomas Malory mentions Alnwick as a possible location for Lancelot's castle Joyous Garde.[15]
In the English Reformation, monastic life at Alnwick came to an end, with both Alnwick Abbey and Hulne Priory being suppressed in 1539.[16][17] Shortly after, the Percys also left Alnwick to decay, only resuming residence in the mid-18th century.[18] Since then the Percys have remained at Alnwick. There was a Church of Scotland congregation in Alnwick in the 17th and 18th centuries.[19]
A Royal Air Force distribution depot was constructed at Alnwick during the Second World War with four main fuel storage tanks (total capacity 1700 tons) and road and rail loading facilities. The tanks were above ground and surrounded by concrete. The site was closed in the 1970s, and its demolition and disposal were completed in 1980.[20]
The rear view of Alnwick Town Hall (the main entrance is in the Market Place)
Historically, the town was partly within the Bamburgh Ward and Coquetdale Ward and later included in the East Division of Coquetdale Ward in 1832.[23]Alnwick Town Hall was the home of the common council of Alnwick.[23] By the time of the 2011 Census, an electoral ward covering only part of Alnwick parish existed. The total population of this ward was 4,766.[24]
The town centre is the marketplace, with its market cross, and the 19th century Northumberland Hall, used as a meeting place.[31]
The Alnwick Playhouse is a thriving multi-purpose arts centre that stages theatre, dance, music, cinema, and visual arts productions.[32]
In 2003, the Willowburn Leisure Centre was opened on the southern outskirts of the enlarged town (replacing the old sports centre located by the Lindisfarne Middle School and the now-demolished Youth Centre).[33]
Alnwick's museum, Bailiffgate Museum, is close to the Bailiffgate entrance to the castle. Its collection is dedicated to local social history. The museum has recently had a major refit funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Its collection includes a variety of agricultural objects, domestic items, railway items, coal mining artefacts, printing objects, a sizeable photographic collection, paintings and a range of activities for children.[34]
Other places of interest in and near the town include:
Brizlee Tower, a folly and observation platform overlooking Hulne Park, the Duke of Northumberland's walled estate by Alnwick Castle
the Bondgate Tower, also known as the Hotspur Tower or Hotspur Gate, the only upstanding survival of the medieval town wall and named after Sir Henry Percy, also called Harry Hotspur, the eldest son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland.[35]
St Leonard's Hospital Chapel, within the castle park. Meagre ruins of c. 1200 from a hospital founded for the soul of King Malcolm of Scotland.[5]
St Mary's Chantry, in Walkergate, the ruins of a medieval chantry house licensed in 1448.[43]
St Michael's Church on Bailiffgate, the main parish church of the town, a Grade I listed building dating from the 15th century with fragments from the 12th century.[44]
the White Swan Hotel, an 18th-century coaching inn that now houses the First Class Lounge and other fittings from the Titanic's near-identical sister ship RMS Olympic.[46]
Alnwick Fair was an annual costumed event, held each summer from 1969 to 2007, recreating some of the appearance of medieval trading fairs and 17th century agricultural fairs. It has now been discontinued.[50]
Transport
Road
Bondgate Tower
Alnwick lies adjacent to the A1, the main national north–south trunk road, providing easy access to Newcastle upon Tyne (35 miles (56 km) south) and Edinburgh (80 miles (130 km) north).[51]
Rail
The East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh (journey time approximately 1:10) and London (journey time approximately 3:45) runs through Alnmouth for Alnwick Station – about 4 miles (6 km) away – with a weekday service of 15 trains per day north to Edinburgh and 13 trains per day south to London.[52]
The Alnwick branch line formerly linked Alnwick's own station, close to the town centre, to Alnmouth station, but this line closed in January 1968. Since the 2010s, the Aln Valley Railway Trust have worked to reopen the branch as a heritage railway but, due to construction of the A1 Alnwick bypass removing a section of the original trackbed on the edge of the town, their purpose-built Alnwick Lionheart terminus is located near the Lionheart Enterprise Estate on the outskirts of the town. The reopening project is ongoing and, as of July 2020, the line's eastern terminus had reached a new station at Greenrigg Halt, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Lionheart, although it is yet to carry passengers over the full length.[53]
Lucy Bronze (born 1991), footballer for Barcelona and England, played junior football in Alnwick and had plaque erected in her honour at Alnwick Town FC.[56]
2015 Vera, ITVmurder mystery, Series 5, Episode 3: Muddy Waters filmed a scene in Alnwick's market place; the filming took place while the market was going on and was not staged for the episode, except for two stalls that were created just for the episode.
^Whitaker, Muriel A. (1976). "Sir Thomas Malory's Castles of Delight". Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature. 9 (2). Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 9, no. 2: 73–84. JSTOR24777076.
^Historic England (11 May 2016). "Alnwick Abbey". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^Historic England (11 May 2016). "Hulne Priory". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^Pevsner, Nikolaus (1957). Northumberland (1st ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 69.
^"Brizlee Tower". Robin Kent Architecture & Conservation website. Robin Kent Architecture & Conservation. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
^"Camphill Column (Alnwick)". Keys to the Past website. Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
^Curry, Jaclyn (14 February 2008). "Death of the Fair". Northumberland Gazette. Northumberland. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
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