Historic county of England
Northumberland
Cheviots west, castles and dunes east, Tyne country south.
Northumberland occupies England’s far north-east, stretching from the Cheviot Hills and the Scottish border to a long North Sea coast of dunes, rock, tidal islands and castles. Between those edges lies a spacious interior of moorland, river valleys, farmland and market towns.
The south changes character as the Tyne valley approaches Newcastle and the densely settled lower river. Northwards, settlement thins rapidly and the county opens into some of England’s least populated country. Northumberland’s identity lies in that contrast: frontier upland, broad rural interior, historic coast and industrial Tyne all within one powerful landscape.
- Northumbria / Bernicia kingdoms' successor
- England/Scotland borders
- Roman occupation (c.70–410 AD)
- Area: 2,019 sq miles
- Population: 797,006
- County Top: The Cheviot
County geography
Current Census
Contemporary Census profile
England and Wales Census 2021. Detailed contemporary statistics are available in the Geographic County Census Explorer.
- Population density
- 411.1 people per sq mi (158.7 people per km²)
- Population
- 829,708
Cheviots and border country
The Cheviots provide Northumberland’s great western height. Long valleys penetrate the hills, creating natural approaches through terrain which otherwise forms a formidable barrier.
Centuries of Anglo-Scottish conflict gave this landscape castles, towers and fortified farmhouses, but the frontier history grew from the geography rather than defining the county itself.
Tyne and the southern county
The Tyne gives southern Northumberland a very different character. Its valley provides an east–west route from upland country towards Newcastle and the North Sea.
Industrial development later transformed the lower river, creating an urban landscape sharply different from the sparse interior only a short distance north.
A coast of castles and islands
Northumberland’s eastern shore alternates broad beaches, dunes, rocky headlands and tidal water. Bamburgh and Lindisfarne are among the best-known expressions of a coastline in which natural position repeatedly shaped settlement, defence and religious life.
The coast is therefore not merely scenic: it is one of the county’s strongest geographical structures.
County questions
Questions about Northumberland
Is Newcastle upon Tyne in Northumberland?
Yes. Newcastle upon Tyne is geographically in Northumberland. Its present local-authority and lieutenancy arrangements do not remove it from the county.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County of Northumberland
- County day
- Last Sunday in May
- Foundation
- c. 1018
Northumberland and County of Northumberland are forms of the county name. Its name preserves the much larger early Northumbrian identity, although the geographic county is a distinct and more compact territory.