Bothal
| Bothal | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 Bothal village | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ240866 |
| Location: | 55°10’23"N, 1°37’30"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Morpeth |
| Postcode: | NE61 |
| Dialling code: | 01670 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wansbeck |
Bothal is a village in Northumberland. It is to be found between Morpeth and Ashington.
Bothal Castle stands here. There is also a church, a vicarage opposite the church gates, some stepping stones over the River Wansbeck, and a scatter of houses.
Bothal was the headquarters of the extensive Welbeck Estates in Northumberland. Half a mile upstream of the castle are the remains of a watermill that still had a working waterwheel up to about the First World War. It had a turbine for electricity production for the mill house from 1947 to 1980.
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Image of Bothal Village -
Bothal village
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Into Bothal woods -
Bothal village -
The River Wansbeck viewed from the stepping stones at Bothal.
Bothal was also a drift mine ('Bothal Barns Drift') though this is something of a misnomer. Bothal Drift was merely another entrance to the Ashington colliery. Now, Bothal Barns Drift is the site of a private house with the old entrance to the drift mine being long disused. The Bothal Drift is situated on the top of the bank on the Ashington side.
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It used to be the entrance to the 'drift'mine -
Now long disused. -
Nearby farmhouse 'Bothal Barns'
From the riverbank a few hundred yards west of the church and castle, near the site of an old mill, it is possible to walk along the River Wansbeck for some 30–45 minutes west towards Morpeth. Further along the footpath is the remains of an old chapel.
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Bothal church in the summer -
Bothal church -
The old weir, just past the outbuilding/ old watermill. Looking west -
The footpath leading west along the river Wansbeck
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bothal) |