Hexham

Sister cities

• Noyon
• Neviges
• Saint-Lunaire
• Brande
• Metzingen

History

In 671/672, Saint Wilfrid was given the site for a church at Hexham by Northumbrian queen Æthelthryth. Hexham Abbey originated as a monastery founded by St Wilfrid in 674. The crypt of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman ruins, probably Corbridge or Hadrian's Wall. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Manuscript D: Cotton Tiberius B IV) records the murder of King Ælfwald by Sicga at Scythlecester (which may be modern Chesters) on 23 September 788: This year Alfwald, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by Siga, on the ninth day before the calends of October; and a heavenly light was often seen on the spot where he was slain. He was buried at Hexham in the church. Her wæs Alfwald Norðhymbra cyning ofslægen fram Sigan on .viiii. Kalendas Octobris, 7 heofonlic leoht wæs lome gesewen þær þær he ofslægen wæs, 7 he wæs bebyrged on Hagustaldesee innan þære cyrican. Like many towns in the Anglo-Scottish border area and adjacent regions, Hexham suffered from the border wars between the kingdoms of Scotland and England, including attacks from William Wallace who burnt the town in 1297. In 1312, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, demanded and received £2000 from the town and monastery in order for them to be spared a similar fate. In 1346 the monastery was sacked in a later invasion led by King David II of Scotland. In 1464, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Hexham was fought somewhere to the south of the town; the actual site is disputed. The defeated Lancastrian commander, Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, was executed in Hexham marketplace. There is a legend that Queen Margaret of Anjou took refuge after the battle in what is known as The Queen's Cave, where she was accosted by a robber; the legend formed the basis for…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,150
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,037
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  956
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  947
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  892
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  867
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  857
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  668

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2020-01-23
  1 km NW of Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2011-01-03
  5 km S of Masham, United Kingdom
• M 3.5 — 2010-12-21
  12 km WSW of Ambleside, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2008-05-28
  12 km WNW of Penrith, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2006-12-26
  2 km NW of Dumfries, United Kingdom