Milfield
| Milfield | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 The footpath to Blinkbonny | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT935335 |
| Location: | 55°35’42"N, 2°6’17"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 315 (2011) |
| Post town: | Wooler |
| Postcode: | NE71 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Berwick-upon-Tweed |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Berwick-upon-Tweed |
Milfield is an inland village in Northumberland about three miles northwest of Wooler. The A697 road passes through the village.
History
Milfield is the likely location of the Northumbrian royal settlement of Maelmin; etymologcallty it fits as mael appears to be the British language word meaning "field". Bede tells us that a residence was built at Maelmin to supersede Edwin of Northumbria's residence of Ad-Gefrin at Yeavering.[1]
Evidence of a high-status Anglo-Saxon settlement at Milfield strongly suggests that this is the location of Maelmin, because of its proximity to Yeavering.[2]
Today there is a Maelmin Heritage Centre in the village - an open-air archaeological heritage site with reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon buildings.
On Milfield Plain, which is part of the bed of the prehistoric Lake of Glendale, was fought one of the many battles between of the unquiet years suffered in the Middle Shires, the battle being fought in the month before the slaughter at Flodden Field. A Scots band under Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home, were returning from a raid into England where they had burnt several villages. Laden with booty which they had "lifted", Home's men were surprised by an English band commanded by Sir William Bulmer of Brancepeth in County Durham. The Durham men were victorious and for long years afterwards the Scots name for the road through Milfield was "The Ill Road".
In the 1660, General Monk waited at Milfield with his forces before his momentous march south which brought about the Restoration.[3]
During the Second World War, an air training unit operated from the nearby RAF Milfield.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Milfield) |
References
- ↑ Bede (1982) [1955]. A History of the English Church and People. Trans. Leo Sherley-Price. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, United Kingdom: Penguin Classics.
- ↑ Waddington, Clive (2001). Maelmin: An Archaeological Guide. Milfield, Northumberland, United Kingdom: CS Publishing.
- ↑ Ridley, Nancy (1966). Portrait of Northumberland (reprint ed.). London: Robert Hale. OCLC 503957631?referer=br&ht=edition.