Home
NORTH EAST TIMELINE

Above: St. Aidan's Statue, Holy Island, Northumberland. Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson. Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo

 

FreeFoto.Com

Back to top of page
About the Site

David Simpson / Books
North East England
The Timeline
Roots of the Region
Yorkshire Pages
Northumberland
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyneside
County Durham
Wearside
Durham City
Teesside
Coal and Railways
Coastal History
Kingdom of Northumbria
Dialect
Place Names
Surnames
The Borderlands
Hadrian's Wall
Christian history
Legends and Songs
Yorkshire Pages
City of York
Bibliography
Links
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Timeline of North East History

THE BORDER REIVERS 1400AD TO 1611AD

By David Simpson

Tudor times were an age of culture and discovery, but in Northumberland lawlessness ruled. Constant war forced people to live by raiding and thieving and on both sides of the border. “Border Reiver” families like the Armstrongs, Robsons and Charltons rai ded and thieved from each other.

TYNEDALE LIBERTY
From Norman times, Tynedale was a ‘Liberty’ - an area of land so remote from the centre of power it was allowed a degree of independence - often held by the Scottish Kings. The Liberty was abolished by Henry VII in 1495 and from this time the Tynedale cl ans or ‘Graynes’ like Robson, Milburn and Charlton increasingly became a law unto themselves. Even Tynedale priests were described as “evil and irregular” and Thomas Wolsey closed the Tynedale churches in 1524.

CASTLES, PELES AND BASTLES
Northumberland has more castles than any part of England and a list compiled in 1415 found over 100 towers and castles. Fortifications included stone Pele (Peel) Towers with walls 3–4 feet thick and fortified farmhouses called Bastles. Most were inhabite d by reivers but “Vicar’s Peles” were inhabited by local clergy. A small scattering of Pele towers can be found in Durham including Ludworth Tower which dates from 1422.

CHARLTON SPUR
The Charltons often assembled for lunch at Hesleyside Hall in North Tynedale where the lady of the house would bring a salver and dish for her husband and retainers. The salver was sometimes lifted to reveal a dish containing a riding spur. It meant the larder was empty and that they must ride, reive and steal cattle or sheep if they wished to be fed.This practice is commemorated in a famous painting at Wallington Hall near Morpeth.

ARMSTRONG CLAN
Thirty members of this mainly Scottish family were hanged at Newcastle in 1532, but it did not stop hundreds of Armstrongs settling in Cumbria in 1549. The most famous reiving Armstrong was “Kinmont Willie” who invaded Tynedale in 1579. He made off with 80 cattle and 1,000 sheep. Legend says Armstrongs are descended from a Scotsman called Fairbairn who lifted a fallen King of Scotland to his horse during a battle using only one strong arm.

ROBSON CLAN
The arch enemies of the Tynedale Robsons were the Grahams of Liddesdale in Scotland. The Robsons once stole scab-infected sheep from the Grahams and brought them into Northumberland. Scab spread through the Robson flock, so the Robsons returned to Liddes dale, caught seven Graham family members and hanged them. They left a note saying: “The Neist time gentlemen cam to tak their schepe They are no te’ be scabbit!”

FOOTBALL CRAZY REIVERS
Charlton, Milburn and Robson are famous footballing names of the 20th Century and it is worth noting that football was a very popular sport among the reivers in early times. In 1599 a six-a-side football match involving the Armstrongs at Bewcastle (Cumbr ia)was interrupted by enemies. A member of the Ridley clan had his throat cut and a Robson was killed. A great football match took place between the men of Tynedale and Redesdale at Kielder Castle in 1790. Final score: Tynedale 3 Redesdale 2.

APOSTLE OF HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING
English people once feared the Borders and were wary of travelling north of the Tees, let alone the Tyne. The Rector of Houghton, Bernard Gilpin who was known as the “Apostle of the North” because of his evangelical travels through the region around 1557 , had no fear. A formidable man “tall, lean with a hawk like nose” he preached to the Border folk and there is evidence to suggest the Reivers feared him.

RAIDS AND MURDERS
Border reiving raids are too numerous to list but include the Raid of Reidswire at Carter Bar in 1575. This was a border fray at a peace-making meeting in which George Heron, Keeper of Tynedale, was murdered. The fray was provoked by the Border warden Jo hn Forster and rivalry between the Crozier and the Fenwick families. Durham generally escaped Border raiding but on December 8, 1569, Tynedale and Cumbrian reivers raided Weardale while the men were away supporting the Rising of the North. Those that rem ained fought off the invaders and the raid was recorded in the ballad The Rookhope Ryde
THE BORDER REIVERS 1400AD TO 1611AD

For Elizabeth I 1558 / James I 1603 / Coal and Industry 1500-1800

Tynedale Liberty / Castles and Peles / Charlton / Armstrong / Robsons / Football /

Apostle of Houghton / Raids and Murders

THE TIMELINE BY ERA

ROMAN PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

VIKING PERIOD

NORMAN PERIOD

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

TUDOR AND STUART PERIOD

GEORGIAN PERIOD

VICTORIAN PERIOD

TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND

by David Simpson

Published by leighton in association with The Northern Echo

ISBN 0-9536984-3-2

The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson is published by Leighton, The Teleport, Doxford International, Sunderland, SR3 3XD, Tel +44 (0) 191 5252400 Fax +44 (0) 520 1815 www.bepl.com. The book is a 322 page full colour hard back book covering the history of the region from Roman times to the present day. To order copies of the book you can e-mail Andrea.Murphy@bepl.com

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Director of leighton at the book launch held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

www.northeastengland.talktalk.net