Great Whittington
| Great Whittington | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 The Queen's Head, Great Whittington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ004708 |
| Location: | 55°1’52"N, 1°59’35"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 401 |
| Post town: | Newcastle Upon Tyne |
| Postcode: | NE19 |
| Dialling code: | 01434 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hexham |
Great Whittington is a village in Northumberland, seven miles north-east of Hexham with a population of 401, as of the 2011 Census. The parish covers an area of 1,494 acres, most of which is used as farmland, with only 12 acres urbanized.
History
Immediately north of Great Whittington, in a field west of the Unnamed Road leading to Matfen, lies Great Whittington Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post.[1] This was one of approx. 1,563 underground monitoring posts built all over the UK during the Cold War to monitor the effects of a Nuclear Strike. They were operated by the ROC who were mostly civilian volunteers. Great Whittington ROC post was opened in June 1962 and closed in September 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw the end of the Cold War.
Abiout the village
The Devil's Causeway, a Roman road, passes the village about a mile to the west. The causeway starts at Port Gate on Hadrian's Wall, north of Corbridge, and extends 55 miles northwards across Northumberland to the mouth of the River Tweed at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
A now de-consecrated Wesleyan church is founded on the northern side of the village green, distinguishable by a large cross above the door.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Whittington) |
References
- http://www.greatwhittington.com Great Whittington]
- http://ukga.org/england/Northumberland/towns/GreatandLittleWhittington.html Genealogy Archives: Great and Litle Whittington]