Blaydon
| Blaydon | |
|---|---|
 Scotswood Railway Bridge |
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 Blaydon
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| Blaydon shown within Tyne and Wear | |
| Population | 15,155 |
| OS grid reference | NZ2460 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BLAYDON-ON-TYNE |
| Postcode district | NE21 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Northumbria |
| Fire | Tyne and Wear |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Blaydon-on-Tyne (usually shortened to Blaydon) is a town in the North East of England in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead - historically in County Durham. Together with Winlaton, which is now contiguous with and forms part of the postal town of Blaydon, the resident population in 2011 was 13,896. The former urban district, however, extends much further, its fourteen and a half square miles constituting the largest administrative district, after Newcastle, on Tyneside. Included within this area, which extends inland from the Tyne along the River Derwent for ten miles (16 km), are the mining communities of Chopwell and High Spen as well as the villages of Rowlands Gill, Blackhall Mill, Barlow and Stella and the larger and more urban towns of Blaydon and Winlaton.
The town of Blaydon is essentially an industrial area and is not more than two centuries old. Indeed, in the 1760s there was little here but a few farms and cottages. In the latter part of the same century a smelting works was set up from which sprang the industrial growth of the area.
Though the town itself has a relatively short history there has been activity in the area for many centuries.
The earliest recorded evidence of human activity at Blaydon is a Neolithic polished stone axe found in the early 20th century. Finds and structures from later prehistoric periods include a bronze spearhead and log-boat, both recovered from the River Tyne in the 19th century. A number of Bronze Age cists are recorded from Summerhill and several others from Bewes Hill.
Little is recorded of medieval Blaydon, which appears to have been based upon the modern farm sites of High and Low Shibdon. The Blaydon Burn Belts Corn Mill, part of a row of 5 or 6 water corn mills stretching from Brockwell Wood to the River Tyne is known to have been present by the early 17th century, suggesting a healthy population at that time. It is likely that, as well as farming, many industrial activities such as mining and quarrying had begun in the medieval and post-medieval periods, well before the industrial period of the 18th to 20th centuries when Blaydon became an important industrial centre.
Also known as the Battle of Newburn or Newburn Ford, this relatively unknown battle has recently been elevated in importance by English Heritage. On 28 August 1640, 20,000 Scots defeated 5,500 English soldiers who were defending the ford over the Tyne four miles (6 km) west of Newcastle. The Scots had been provoked by Charles I, who had imposed bishops and a foreign prayer book on their church. The Scots army, led by Alexander Leslie, fought its way to Newcastle and occupied the city for almost a year before Charles I paid it £200,000 to depart. The battle brought to an end the so-called 'Eleven Years of Tyranny' by forcing Charles to recall Parliament. This was the last battle in Britain to feature the use of archers.
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Wikipedia