Matfen

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Matfen
Matfen shown within Northumberland
OS grid reference	NZ029719
District	Castle Morpeth
Shire county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district	NE20
Dialling code	01661
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
European Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Hexham
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Coordinates: 55°02′28″N 1°57′14″W / 55.041, -1.954

Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the towns of Hexham and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of an eighteenth-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the nineteenth-century Premier of British Columbia, William Smithe.

Matfen Hall is the home of Sir Hugh and Lady Blackett and is operated as a hotel and country club. The Grade 2 listed building was built c1828 by Sir Edward Blackett to replace an earlier 17th century house.

1 Early area history
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Early area history

Matfen lies near the ancient course of Hadrian's Wall, one of the most noted Roman monuments in Britain. The story of this wall forms the earliest recorded history of the Matfen vicinity. The length of Hadrian's Wall is approximately 117 kilometres, spanning the width of Britannia; the wall incorporated Agricola's Ditch^[1] and was constructed primarily to prevent harrying by small bands of raiders and unwanted immigration from the north, not really as a fighting front for a significant invasion.^[2]