Craster is a small

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...

on the

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

coast of England, from

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

. The next village to the north is Embleton. It has a small

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

and offers a view northwards along the rocky shore to the ruins of

Dunstanburgh Castle Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322, taking advantage of t ...

. This is the nearest point of access to the castle and the approach must be made on foot as there is just a grassy path. The remains of a tower on the end of the harbour are all that can be seen now of the much taller building which was part of the overhead equipment which used to convey the local stone from where it was quarried to boats in the harbour. The disused quarry is now a car park. A small distance inland lies

Craster Tower Craster Tower is an 18th-century Georgian mansion incorporating a 14th-century pele tower situated near the fishing village of Craster, Northumberland, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The Craster family have owned lands a ...

, the home of the Craster family who owned the quarry and had the harbour improved for its benefit. A memorial on the harbour wall commemorates a member of the Craster family who died serving with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

in the 19th century. The development of the harbour serves as a memorial to their son. For many years, the village has had a

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

-curing business:http://visitcraster.org.uk/Helpful%20Information/Craster%20History.htm

Craster kipper Craster kippers are kippers from the Northumberland village of Craster. They have been acclaimed as the best British kipper. Background Like the Newmarket sausage or the Stornoway black pudding, the Craster kipper (sometimes called by aficionado ...

s are well known around the world. The walk along the coast to the south passes by Cullernose Point, an example of the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic cliffs which are a significant feature of the local landscape, and are part of the

Whin Sill The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Nort ...

. It is within the

Northumberland Coast The Northumberland Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the Northeast of England. Features include: Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Beadnell, Budle Bay, ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

. A mile to the west, Dunstan Hall is a mansion incorporating a medieval

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

, now used as holiday accommodation.

References

External links

Northumberland Communities
(Accessed: 6 November 2008)
Craster History told by the people themselves
Ports and harbours of Northumberland Villages in Northumberland Populated coastal places in Northumberland {{Northumberland-geo-stub