Amble
| Amble | |
|---|---|
 The sundial in the town square |
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 Amble
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| Amble shown within Northumberland | |
| Population | 6,025 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | NU267041 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MORPETH |
| Postcode district | NE65 |
| Dialling code | 01665 |
| Police | Northumbria |
| Fire | Northumberland |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Amble is a town, civil parish and seaport on the North Sea coast of Northumberland, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Coquet, and the nearby Coquet Island is visible from its beaches and harbour. The civil parish is called Amble by the Sea, and in 2001 had a population of 6,044, reducing slightly to 6,025 at the 2011 Census.
There are two suggested origins of the place-name Amble. One theory suggests a Gaelic origin from Am Béal, meaning "tidal inlet", and is attributed to the historical presence of Irish missionaries in the area who spoke that language despite most of the local population not doing so. An earlier theory, originating with Eilert Ekwall, is an Old English origin of Amma/Anna bile, meaning "Amma's/Anna's headland".
There are sources indicating that the name and variants thereof – such as Ambell and Ambhill – may have been in use as long ago as 1203 AD. Northumberland was not recorded in the Domesday Book.
Various urns, cists, flint spearheads and other evidence of ancient burials were found near to Amble in the 1880s and 1890s. Some of those remains showed signs of cremation.
Outcrops of coal had been found along the coastline between the River Coquet and the River Tyne at least as long ago as the reign of Elizabeth I, when unsuccessful attempts had been made to extract and transport it in an economic manner. A failed proposal to use Amble as a port for the shipment of locally sourced coal and salt is recorded in 1618, although this failure did not discourage William Hewitt from making the then rare decision to reserve for himself the rights to the coal when he sold the townships of Amble and Hauxley in 1630. A significant factor in the failure of all the early attempts, when compared to the success of ventures in the valleys of the Tyne and the Wear, was that of economies of scale. Those more successful areas at that time had plentiful easily accessed reserves which encouraged investment and the sharing of fixed costs such as harbour facilities, buildings and machinery among a large number of enterprises.
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Wikipedia