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Alnwick in Northumberland County England History and GeographyALNWICK, a market town and parochial chapelry in the eastern division of COQUETDALE ward, county or NORTHUMBERLAND, 34 miles (N. by W.) from Newcastle upon Tyne, and 319 (N. by W.) from London, on the great north road, containing 5927 inhabitants. This place derives its name from its situation near the river Alne. In 1093, it was besieged by Malcolm III. King of Scotland, and bravely defended by Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland; Malcolm, with his son and heir Prince Edward, were slain during the siege, which event is commemorated by a cross erected about a mile from the town, called Malcolm's cross. In 1174, William, King of Scotland, with 80,000 men, laid siege to the town, but was defeated and captured by Ralph de Glanville, who sent him prisoner to London, whence he was afterwards ransomed by his subjects for £100,000. Gualo, the pope's legate, summoned a council of the Scottish bishops to be held here in 1220; and, in 1328, the town was again besieged by the Scots under Robert Bruce, their king, but without success. In 1411, the castle, (supposed to have been originally erected by the Saxons on the site of a Roman fortress, and which was, at the Conquest, the baronial residence of the then Earl of Northumberland) was embattled, and the town surrounded with a strong wall to protect it from the predatory incursions of the Scots, by whom, in 1448, it was burnt, in revenge for the burning of Dumfries by the English. After the battle of Hexham, in 1463, the castle, which was in the interest of the house of Lancaster, was summoned by the Earl of Warwick; but the garrison, though unable to sustain a protracted siege, retained possession till they were relieved by Sir George Douglas, who, at the head of a considerable force, afforded them an opportunity of retiring unmolested. Alnwick abbey was founded in 1147, by Eustace Fitz John, who endowed it for Premonstratensian canons; the abbots were summoned to some of the parliaments in the reigns of Edward I. and II.; its revenue, at the dissolution, was £194. 7.; of this abbey only the gateway remains. Here were also an hospital dedicated to St. Lawrence, and founded by some of the Percy family, and a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas. Alnwick is situated on the irregular declivity of an eminence rising from the river Alne, over which, at the northern extremity of the town, is a neat stone bridge of three arches: the streets are spacious, well paved, and lighted with gas; the houses, built of stone, are chiefly modern, and many of them elegant; and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from cisterns and reservoirs, and by pumps erected by the corporation in various parts of the town. The castle, now the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, is a stately structure comprising two spacious wards, with lofty towers and exploratory turrets: it has been repaired with a due regard to its ancient style, and fitted up with the most sumptuous magnificence. The town walls were strengthened by four square and massive gateway towers, of which Bondgate is the only one remaining, and is now used as a prison. The trade and manufactures are inconsiderable. The market day is Saturday, chiefly for corn: the fairs are held on the 12th of May, the last Monday in July, the first Tuesday in October, the 28th of that menth, and the last Saturday before Christmas day; there are also statute fairs on the first Saturday in March and November. On the eve of each fair the inhabitants of the adjacent townships send deputies to attend the bailiff in the ceremony of proclamation; after which they keep watch and ward in the several quarters of the town for the remainder of the night, by which service they are exempt from toll within the borough for the next twelve months. The corporate body who possess a prescriptive right, consists of a bailiff, nominated by the Duke of Northumberland, as constable of the castle, four chamberlains and twenty-four common council men: the chamberlains are chosen from among the common council, and the latter from among the freemen of the several incorporated companies. The freedom is inherited by the eldest sons of freemen, or acquired by servitude. Each candidate, on taking up his freedom, is, by the provisions of King John's charter, subjected to the ludicrous ceremony of passing through a miry pool, thence called the 'Freeman's Well.' The officers of the corporation possess no magisterial authority, the town being within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who meet every alternate week: the quarter sessions for the county are held here in turn with Hexham, Newcastle and Morpeth. The town-hall is a handsome stone building surmounted by a square tower, and commodiously arranged for the transaction of the publicbusiness: it is situated on the northern side of the marketplace, a spacious area in the centre of the town, on the western side of which stands the market-house, a fine building in the early style of English architecture, containing seven spacious apartments, under which are the shambles. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham. The Duke of Northumberland was patron in 1799. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a large plain building with a neat tower: in a niche in the south-aisle are three recumbent figures in stone without inscription. There are places of worship for Antiburghers, Burghers, Independents, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and Unitarians. The free school, near the west-gate, for preparing the sons of freemen for the mathematical school, is principally supported by the corporation; the mathematical school, and a school for the daughters of freemen, are supported by subscription; and a national school for two hundred boys was founded in 1810, by the Duke of Northumberland, in commemoration of his late majesty, George III., having completed the fiftieth year of his reign: there are also several Sunday schools. Alnwick gives the title of baron to the Earl of Beverley. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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