Cultural Heritage

Northumberland's cultural heritage has been shaped by Roman occupation and tribal conflicts; by roving holy men and gritty pioneers. It features names such as the Emperor Hadrian, King Arthur, St Cuthbert and St Bede; William Wallace, James IV and the railway pioneers George Stephenson and William Hedley, industrialist inventor William George Armstrong and suffragette Emily Davison. It features the World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall, spectacular countryside and a wonderful coast, steeped in history and greedily coveted by the Vikings and other green-eyed marauders.

Although the least populated and most remote of the English counties, Northumberland was a powerhouse of cultural development. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne was the seat of early Christian learning and the arts, yielding St Bede's famous Lindisfarne Gospels.

Today, Northumberland's cultural heritage is celebrated in unique, diverse museums and galleries and at festivals throughout the county. Hear the echo of the past in local dialects and the words of traditional Northumbrian folk ballads accompanied by the staccato lilt of our traditional Northumbrian smallpipes, played by pipers dressed in traditional Northumberland Tartan. This black and white fabric, which dates back to Roman times and provided the basis for the Scottish Estate Tartans of today, was originally woven by shepherds from the black and white fleece of their flock for protection against the elements.

Northumberland's many county shows, town and village fetes, and farmers' markets are also great places to experience our culture first hand. Fluttering at many of these events, and from castle towers and the roofs of stately homes across the county, you may spot the distinctive red and gold of the Northumberland flag, probably the oldest known flag design in Britain. Today's design derives from the banner of gold and purple hung over the tomb of St Oswald, the 7th Century King of Northumbria.