Matfen is a village and a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England, near the town of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

and the city of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. It is an example of a 19th-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the 7th

Premier of British Columbia The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title ''prime minister of British Columbia'' was often used. The word ''premier'' is derived ...

William Smithe William Smithe (born William Smith; June 30, 1842 in Matfen, Northumberland, England – March 28, 1887 in Victoria, British Columbia) was a British Columbia politician and the seventh premier of British Columbia, from 1883 to 1887. Smithe was ...

. In 2001 it had a population of 495.

History

Matfen is a few miles north of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

. About halfway between the two there is a prehistoric

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

called Stob Stone, adjacent to Standing Stone Farmhouse. The stone is about seven feet high and decorated with cup marks. The place-name ''Matfen'' is first attested in the

Pipe Rolls The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rollsBrown ''Governance'' pp. 54–56 or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exche ...

for 1159, where it appears as ''Matefen''. The name means ''Matta's fen''. The civil parish was formed in 1955 from East Matfen, Fenwick, Ingoe, Kearsley, Ryal and West Matfen.

Landmarks

Matfen Hall now houses a hotel and country club. The Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

was built about 1828 by Sir Edward Blackett to replace an earlier, 17th-century house. The

Devil's Causeway The Devil's Causeway is a Roman roads, Roman road in Northumberland, in North East England, North East England. It branches off Dere Street north of Corbridge and can be traced through Northumberland for about north to Berwick-upon-Tweed. D ...

passes the village less than to the west. The causeway is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

road, which starts at Port Gate on

, north of

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

, and extends northwards across Northumberland to the mouth of the

Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

Notable people

* Thomas Bates (1775–1849), an eminent stockbreeder, was born in Matfen. *

(1842–1887), the 7th premier of British Columbia, was born in Matfen. *

Lorna Hill Lorna Hill (born Lorna Leatham, 21 February 1902 in Durham, England, died 17 August 1991 in Keswick, Cumbria), was an English author of over 40 books for children. These remained popular into the 21st century. Life and works Lorna, the daugh ...

(1902–1991), a writer of over 40 books for children, was the wife of the rector of Matfen.

References

External links

Tourist guideMatfen Parish Council
Villages in Northumberland Civil parishes in Northumberland {{Northumberland-geo-stub