Otterburn, Northumberland

Otterburn
Northumberland
Otterburn
Location
Grid reference:	NY885935
Location:	55°14’10"N, 2°10’55"W
Data
Population:	654  (2011)
Post town:	Newcastle Upon Tyne
Postcode:	NE19
Dialling code:	01830
Local Government
Council:	Northumberland
Parliamentary constituency:	Hexham

Otterburn is a small village in Northumberland, 31 miles north-west of Newcastle Upon Tyne on the banks of the River Rede, near the confluence of the Otter Burn, from which the village derives its name. It lies within the Cheviot Hills about 16 miles from the border with Roxburghshire. The parish of Otterburn is at the heart of Redesdale, a remote Northumbrian upland valley steeped in history and blessed with natural beauty.

History

Otterburn was the site of the Battle of Otterburn, a major battle fought on an August evening in 1388 between an English army under Sir Henry Percy, known as Hotspur, and a Scottish invading army under James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas. The engagement is the subject of The Ballad of Chevy Chase and the Scots ballad Otterburn.

At the Battle of Otterburn the English were routed and the Scots took Hotspur captive, though James Douglas was slain. Over a thousand of Hotspur's men were taken, left dead on the field or slain as they fled: the dead were carried to St Cuthbert's Church in Elsdon three miles from Otterburn for burial.

Economy

Today, the village is noted for its proximity to the Otterburn Training Area, one of the United Kingdom's largest army training ranges, covering some 60,000 acres.

Sights about the village

• Otterburn Hall, now a hotel, is a Neo-Elizabethan structure, built in 1870 for Lord James Douglas, and which is now currently shut.
• The Percy Arms Hotel, in the centre of the village, closed in 2012.
• St John the Evangelist's Church, Otterburn
• Otterburn Mill is now a retail outlet.
• Otterburn Tower, which under the name 'Otterburn Castle', is now a hotel. It was built in 1830 incorporating part of an eighteenth-century house, which itself may have incorporated the thirteenth-century tower house which originally stood on the site.
• The "Percy Cross" stands in the midst of a small plantation, a mile north of the village, and marks the site of the Battle of Otterburn of 1388.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Otterburn, Northumberland)

• Bellingham Journal Live – photographs of Otterburn
• Otterburn Parish Council
• Otterburn Tower
• Otterburn on UKVillages