Cheviot Hills, Northumberland
Historical Description
Cheviot Hills, a group of hills and mountains on the mutual border of Northumberland and Scotland. Cheviot proper, the highest summit of the group, is situated 7 miles SW of Wooler, and has an altitude of 2658 feet above the level of the sea. The other summits, exclusive of offsets, lie within a circuit of 60 miles, and belong to the parishes of Wooler, Kirknewton, Ilderton, Ingram, Ainham, Alwinton, and Elsdon in Northumberland, and to six parishes in Scotland. The hills have generally a dome-shaped or sugar-loaf outline, and are grouped skirt to skirt, or shoulder to shoulder, like clustering cones. The prevailing rock is porphyritic trap, and the soil, over great part of the surface, bears a rich sward, excellent for sheep pasture. The highest portions are heath, and considerable tracts are bog. The golden eagle is sometimes seen, grouse are found, and the famous breed of sheep, known as the Cheviots, is extensively depastured. The line of watershed is nearly identical with the boundary line between Northumberland and Scotland, and the chief streams on the English side are the Wooler, the Breamish, the Coquet, and the Eeed. Mrs Sigourney, apostrophising the flocks of sheep, and alluding to the Border raids, says —" Graze on, graze on, there comes no sound Of Border warfare near; No slogan-cry of gathering clan, No battle-axe, no spear. There's many a wandering stream that flows From Cheviot's terraced side, Yet not one drop of warrior's gore Distains its crystal tide."
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northumberland is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers related to Northumberland online: