About Bellingham in Northumberland (pronounced Bellinjum)
Known as the "Capital of the North Tyne Valley", Bellingham is a deightful town built on the edge of the National Park which is next door to Kielder Water and Forest Country Park.
Philip Larkin's poem "Show Saturday" from his book "High Windows" is based on the Bellingham Show which takes place every year in late August.
Close to Hadrian's Wall
It is situated 16 miles north northwest of Hexham and very close to Hadrian's wall and the borders. The town site is on the north bank of the North Tyne river by the Hareshaw Burn, and is said to be sited on a Roman station.
Bellingham was one of the Poor Law Unions, comprised of 37 parishes and townships. In 1839 the Bellingham Union Workhouse was built. It held accommodation for 60 people; Whellan's Directory for 1854 notes that there were 24 inmates at the time.
The parish church of St. Cuthbert, the local Anglican church, was consecrated in 1180, and is unique because of its arched roof that is covered in stone, perhaps the only one of its kind still in England. This was in response to the repeated burnings of its wooden roof by the border raids. It is also the site of the tombstone of the Long Pack, a famous Northumbrian folktale. John Wallis, who wrote The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland, published in 1769, was the curate at Bellingham.
In April 2003 attention was drawn to the village when Lord Redesdale officially opened the rejuvenated heritage centre on the site of the old railway station.
(Information courtesy of Northumberland Tourism)