Fenwick Tower, Northumberland

Fenwick Tower was a 12th-century tower house at Fenwick, Matfen, Northumberland, England. The house was the home of the Fenwick family from the 12th century until they moved to Wallington in the 16th century. In 1378 John Fenwick was granted a licence to crenelate the house. The tower was largely demolished in about 1775 at which time a hoard of medieval gold coins was discovered. The sparse remains of the tower are now incorporated into a 17th-century farmhouse and are protected by Grade II listed building status On 15 February 2010 human remains were found buried next to a cottage in the hamlet of Fenwick Towers. Radio-carbon dating of the remains indicated they likely dated to the 13th or 14th centuries.

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Stamfordham

Stamfordham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 Census was 1,047, rising to 1,185 at the 2011 Census. The place-name Stamfordham is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for 1188, where it appears as Stanfordhamn, which roughly translates as 'village at the stony ford'. The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin was built in the 13th century and overrestored under the direction of Benjamin Ferrey in 1848. In addition to St Mary's, there is a joint Methodist/United Reformed Church, the Church on the Green. The large village green contains both a market cross (the Butter Cross, dating from 1735) and a village lock-up which is Grade II listed and dates from the early 19th century, pre-dating the formation of police forces. The village has an Ofsted 'outstanding' rated school (Stamfordham Primary School), a historic Village Hall (originally the school), a public house (Swinburne Arms), an annual fête and car show held on the August bank holiday Monday (Stamfordham Village Fayre), and a number of local social and sports clubs, notably Stamfordham Cricket Club (playing at Grange Park on the southern edge of the village), the first team of which competes in the West Tyne League. The Grade II-listed Bay Horse Inn closed in November 2014. The village is also host to a number of cycling events, including the Cyclone Festival of Cycling and the HSBC UK National Road Race Championships.

Church Cricket

Matfen Hall

Matfen Hall is a 19th-century country mansion in Matfen, Northumberland, England, the seat of the Blackett baronets and now also a hotel and country golf club. It is a Grade II* listed building. The manor of West Matfen was owned in the 13th century by Philip de Ulcote and passed through his sisters to Felton, by marriage to Hastings and later to Lawson. In 1625 the estate was bought by Lancelot Fenwick of a branch of the old-established local family. The manor and manor house, West Matfen High Hall, was sold in 1680 to John Douglas, Town Clerk of Newcastle. His granddaughter and Douglas heiress married Sir Edward Blackett, Bt., in 1757, thereby bringing the estate into the Blackett family. The present house was built to replace the old manor, in 1832 for Sir William Blackett, 6th Baronet. The impressive Jacobean-style mansion has a three-storey seven-bay entrance front. An important internal feature is a full-height Gothic hall. Between 1965 and 1994 the house was leased out, operating as the Northumberland Cheshire Home. Sir Hugh Blackett, the 12th Baronet, and Lady Blackett have since converted the hall into a hotel and country club, which opened in 1999. The Blacketts now live at Halton Castle, a few miles west of Matfen.

Golf Historic Site

Matfen

Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the town of Hexham and the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of a 19th-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the 7th Premier of British Columbia, William Smithe. In 2001 it had a population of 495.

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Ouston, Stamfordham

Ouston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stamfordham, in the county of Northumberland, England. In 1951 the parish had a population of 13. Ouston lies near the course of Hadrian's Wall, probably the most noted Roman monument in Britain.

Historic Site Landmark