Bamburgh

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Coordinates: 55°36′14″N 1°43′20″W / 55.604°N 1.7222°W / 55.604; -1.7222

Bamburgh
Bamburgh Castle from the north
Bamburgh  Bamburgh shown within Northumberland
Population	454 (2001)
OS grid reference	NU1734
Civil parish	Bamburgh
Unitary authority	Northumberland
Ceremonial county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BAMBURGH
Postcode district	NE69
Dialling code	01668
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Berwick-upon-Tweed
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Bamburgh ( /ˈbæmbrə/ BAM-brə) is a large village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It has a population of 454.^[1]

It is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family (see William George Armstrong); and its association with the Victorian heroine, Grace Darling, who is buried there.

Its extensive sandy beach was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005. The Bamburgh Dunes, an area of sand dunes which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, stand behind the award winning beach. Bamburgh is popular with holidaymakers and is within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

Bamburgh Castle, then called Din Guardi, may have been the capitol of the Brythonic kingdom of Bryneich between about AD 420 and 547. In 547 the castle was taken by the invading Angles led by Ida son of Eoppa^[2] and was renamed Bebbanburgh by one of his successors, Æthelfrith, after Æthelfrith's wife Bebba, according to the Historia Brittonum. From then onwards the castle became the capitol of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia until it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, in 634. After the two realms united as Northumbria the capitol was moved to York.

Bamburgh was again the capitol of local Bernician rulers after the Viking destruction of the old Northumbrian kingdom in 867. Initially puppets of the Vikings, they later had more autonomy under either the Vikings or Kings of united England. The rulers of Bernicia held the title of High Reeve of Bamburgh from at least 913 until 1041, when the last was killed by Harthacnut; sometimes - 954-963 and 975-1016 - they also served as Earls of York. The castle was destroyed in a renewed Viking attack in 993 and in 1018 the Lothian part of Bernicia was ceded to Scotland, significantly reducing the area controlled from Bamburgh.

Henry VI ruled all England (in name) from Bamburgh in 1464, during the Wars of the Roses. The castle was eventually reduced by artillery.

Thomas Malory considered Bamburgh to be Lancelot's castle Joyous Gard. The Victorian poet Algernon Charles Swinburne agreed and called it "The noblest hold in all the North."

"They saw the help and strength of Joyous Gard,

The full deep glorious tower that stands over

Between the wild sea and the broad wild lands..."

Swinburne swam here, as did the novelist E. M. Forster who adopted the Forsters of Bamburgh as his ancestors.

Notable people

• Æthelfrith of Northumbria
• William George Armstrong
• Joe Baker-Cresswell
• Grace Darling
• King Henry VI
• Ida of Bernicia
• Prideaux John Selby

Photo Gallery

• 

  looking east from the village green. The sea is about 100 m behind the castle.

• 

  from the north looking south towards the castle.

• 

  from the beach.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bamburgh

A map of Bamburgh from 1947

• Bamburgh Photos
• Stained glass windows at St. Aidan's Church, Photos by Peter Loud
• Bamburgh Tourist Attractions
• Bamburgh Online
• GENUKI (Accessed: 5 November 2008)
• Northumberland Communities (Accessed: 5 November 2008)
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bamburgh". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.