# Beltingham > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beltingham > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beltingham.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltingham > Source revision: 1348456549 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Village in Northumberland, England}} {{Use British English|date=April 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox UK place |official_name = Beltingham |country = England |region = North East England |unitary_england= [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland_County_Council) |lieutenancy_england= [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland) |constituency_westminster= [Hexham](/source/Hexham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) |population = |post_town = HEXHAM |postcode_area = NE |postcode_district = NE47 |dial_code = |os_grid_reference = NY785635 |coordinates = {{coord|54.966|-2.337|display=inline,title}} |static_image_name = Road through Beltingham, Northumberland - Geograph-2026957.jpg |static_image_width = 240px |static_image_caption = Victorian postbox at Beltingham }} '''Beltingham''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|l|t|ɪ|n|dʒ|əm}}G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 13. is a small village on the [River South Tyne](/source/River_Tyne) in Northumberland, in England. It is situated {{convert|1|mi|0}} southeast of [Bardon Mill](/source/Bardon_Mill) and {{convert|10|mi|0}} to the west of [Hexham](/source/Hexham). In the village, stone houses surround a small green with flowering gardens. There is a Georgian house near the church, and another nearby looks as if it was once a [bastle house](/source/bastle_house).{{cite book|last = Rowland|first = T. H.|authorlink = T. H. Rowland|title = Waters of Tyne|publisher = Sandhill Press Ltd|year = 1994|edition=Reprint|location = Warkworth, Northumberland, England|isbn = 0-946098-36-0}} == Governance == Beltingham is in the [parliamentary](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) constituency of [Hexham](/source/Hexham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). == Religious sites == The '''church''' is dedicated to [St. Cuthbert](/source/Cuthbert_of_Lindisfarne) and stands in a churchyard containing three massive yew trees, which are more than 700 years old,(see below) and may well have been used for the making of longbows before guns came. Bishop [Nicholas Ridley](/source/Nicholas_Ridley_(martyr)) was keen on archery, which was compulsory school sport in the days of [Henry VIII](/source/Henry_VIII_of_England). The yew tree indicates an old church, but the present church was built about 1500 in [Perpendicular](/source/English_Gothic_architecture) style. There is no division between nave and chancel, and the roof carries a little bell tower. There is an old cross shaft at the west end. In 1883-4 the church was very much restored, and some of the old memorials were destroyed. One, recorded by [John Hodgson](/source/John_Hodgson_(antiquary)), requested prayers for the soul of Nicholas Ridley, who died in the fifteenth century (1490). There is a memorial now in the church to the Revd. Anthony Hedley of [Chesterholm](/source/Chesterholm), friend of Hodgson, who died 17 January 1835, having caught a fatal chill in going out to supervise an excavation at [Vindolanda](/source/Vindolanda) fort. He was born near [Otterburn](/source/Otterburn%2C_Northumberland) and related to [Capability Brown](/source/Lancelot_%22Capability%22_Brown). Both had served the [Marquis of Bath](/source/Marquess_of_Bath) at [Longleat](/source/Longleat). Hedley was inspired to improve vicarage gardens as well as to search for antiquities. Standing halfway between Ridley bridge and Willimoteswick, the little church stands above a burn, making it look like an island, and clustered round the green and the lych-gate are the few houses and the village school. This church, another dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was founded in Saxon days but little of the Saxon building remains. The church we know today was restored at the end of Queen Victoria's reign by Francis Bowes-Lyon, who was an uncle of [Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother](/source/Elizabeth_Bowes-Lyon). The yew tree in the churchyard would be young when a later [Nicholas Ridley](/source/Nicholas_Ridley_(martyr)) died as a martyr, and the forefathers of men who sleep beneath its shade may well have cut their bows from it to draw at the [Battle of Flodden](/source/Battle_of_Flodden). The almost perfect [leper's squint](/source/leper's_squint) is still there, to remind us that in the Dark Ages the outcasts were banned from the house of God.{{cite book|last = Ridley|first = Nancy|authorlink = Nancy Ridley|title = Portrait of Northumberland|publisher = Robert Hale|year = 1966|edition=reprint|oclc = 503957631|location = London|isbn = |pages = 66–67}} "Churchyards can be little havens for wildlife, as they are often quiet and undisturbed." Ancient yews offered a sanctuary for the region's wildlife, one of which [in St Cuthbert's churchyard] is believed to be up to 2,000 years old.{{cite news|title = Spotlight on churchyard's ancient sacred yew trees|newspaper= Hexham Courant|issue = 24 April 2009|page=8}} ==See also== *[Beltingham River Shingle](/source/Beltingham_River_Shingle), a [Site of Special Scientific Interest](/source/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest) {{convert|0.5|mi}} north-west of the village. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Beltingham}} {{Locations of Bastle houses in the United Kingdom}} {{Authority control}} Category:Villages in Northumberland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Beltingham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltingham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltingham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.