Ulgham
| Ulgham | |
|---|---|
 Ulgham
|
|
| Ulgham shown within Northumberland | |
| Population | 365 (2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | NZ234923 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MORPETH |
| Postcode district | NE61 |
| Police | Northumbria |
| Fire | Northumberland |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Ulgham is a small village in Northumberland, England. The name Ulgham is pronounced 'Uffam': [ˈʊfəm] (locally), [ˈʌfəm] (RP), and is known as the 'village of the owls'.
Ulgham is notable for a reference to football being played there in 1280.
Situated about six miles north of Morpeth, Ulgham is a village combining old with new. The church of St John the Baptist stands at the top of a steep bank above the river Lyne. It looks old, but was rebuilt in the 1800s. However, the site is Saxon and two Norman stone windows are built into the current church walls. In the north aisle is an extraordinary stone relief originally thought to be a Norman knight on horseback apparently protecting a lady from two birds shown above her shoulder, is in fact of much earlier Viking or even pagan Anglian origin; the figure depicted on the left is clearly Odin, shown here in classic representation as cloaked and hooded with his two raven companions Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory) on either shoulder. The creature depicted on the right is Odin's eight-legged horse (Sleipnir). The weathered nature of the stonework indicates that it has spent a significant length of time exposed to the elements, before being incorporated into the fabric of the present church. The churchyard contains tombstones from the 1600s – and one prior to the Spanish Armada of 1588.
Opposite the church is a field containing earth mounds from the original village boundary, which are unique in the country. Next to the church the farmhouse has been refurbished and the farm buildings converted into interesting homes of character, which retain the existing charm of the farm.
The old village cross still stands in the main street, although it does not have a cross arm now, in front of two very modern bungalows. This is where markets were held during the plague in Morpeth. There is a small, modern estate where the pig farm used to be, opposite the post office, which was originally a one-storey building, when Ulgham was one street and three farms.
Notorious for being 'the village with the unpronounceable name', Uffam is believed to mean 'the place of owls', although there are other derivations. Sadly, the destruction of the surrounding countryside for open-cast mining, and the disappearance of farm buildings and stone barns means that owls are seldom heard or seen. So the people of Ulgham have their own owls and almost every house has one. There are owls of china, glass, wood, bronze, paint and needlework, stone owls in gardens and an owl is incorporated into the sign of the village pub – The Forge.
...
Wikipedia