Longhoughton, Northumberland

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Longhoughton
Longhoughton shown within Northumberland
OS grid reference	NU2426715197
Shire county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
European Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Berwick-upon-Tweed
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Coordinates: 55°25′48″N 1°36′59″W / 55.43005, -1.61648

Longhoughton is a small rural village in Northumberland, England. It lies near the cost, some 4.5 miles northeast of Alnwick, in the similarly-named parish of Longhoughton.

The village lies under the spectacular whinstone outcrop, Ratcheugh Crag, near which local point-to-point racing is often conducted.

Longhoughton church does double-duty as the church of the nearby RAF station at Boulmer.

[edit] History

The village has a turbulent history and was often sacked in Medieval times. From the twelfth century until recently, the village was noted for its water and corn mills.^[1]

The parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul dates from the Saxon era, although it was rebuilt in 1080 and now the only remaining Saxon stonework is seen in parts of the chancel and tower arches. During the 1080 rebuilding, a 44 foot tower was added. This was for purposes of military defence, rather than religious use, and was used as such until the seventeenth century. Parish records go back as far as 1646.

Smugglers used to use the church as a distribution centre in the 1800s.

Nicholaus Pevsner mentioned the church favourably in his review of Northumbrian architecture.

Longhoughton once had a station on the main line of the North Eastern railway. There was also local industry based on limestone, coal and lead; although agricultural was always the main occupation.

On top of Ratcheugh Crag is a Robert Adam-designed observatory, built by Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland.

[edit] References