{{Short description|Village in Northumberland, England}} {{See also|Millfield (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Use British English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox UK place |official_name= Milfield |country = England |region = North East England |shire_county = [[Northumberland]] |shire_district = [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] |constituency_westminster= [[North Northumberland (UK Parliament constituency)|North Northumberland]] |population = 315 |population_ref=(2011 census)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126572&c=NE71+6HE&d=16&e=62&g=6452879&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1435917433766&enc=1|title=Parish population 2011|accessdate=3 July 2015}}</ref> |post_town = WOOLER |postcode_area = NE |postcode_district = NE71 |dial_code = |os_grid_reference = NT935335 |coordinates = {{coord|55.5950|-2.1047|display=inline,title}} |static_image_name = Old RAF Buildings - Milfield - geograph.org.uk - 623696.jpg |static_image_caption = Old RAF Buildings, Milfield }} '''Milfield''' is a village in [[Northumberland]], England about {{convert|3|mi|0}} northwest of [[Wooler]]. The [[A697 road]] passes through the village. <!-- Headings as per wp:UKCITIES -->
== History == Milfield is the likely location of the [[Northumbria]]n royal settlement of Maelmin. According to [[Bede]], a residence was built at Maelmin to supersede [[Edwin of Northumbria]]'s residence of Ad-Gefrin at [[Yeavering]].<ref name=bede>{{cite book | last = Bede | translator = [[Leo Sherley-Price]] | title = A History of the English Church and People | publisher = Penguin Classics | orig-year = 1955| year = 1982 | location = Harmondsworth, Middlesex, United Kingdom }}</ref> Evidence of a high-status Anglo-Saxon settlement at Milfield strongly suggests that this is the location of Maelmin, because of its proximity to Yeavering.<ref name=waddington>{{cite book | last = Waddington | first = Clive | title = Maelmin: An Archaeological Guide | publisher = CS Publishing | year = 2001 | location = Milfield, Northumberland, United Kingdom }}</ref> ''Maelmin'' has been identified as a [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] place name with a probable meaning of 'decayed edge',<ref name=Breeze>{{cite journal| last1=Breeze| first1=Andrew| date=2001| title=The Name of Maelmin, near Yeavering| journal=Archaeologica Aeliana| volume=29| pages=31-32}}</ref> though other Brittonic etymologies are also possible.<ref>Bethany Fox, '[http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland]', ''The Heroic Age'', 10 (2007), [http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox-appendix.html appendix].</ref>
One of the many battles between the Scots and the English was fought on '''Milfield Plain''', which is part of the bed of the prehistoric [[Lake of Glendale]]. In the month before the Battle of [[Flodden]], some Scottish [[Border reivers | reivers]], under [[Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home | Alexander Home]], were returning from a raid into England where they had burnt several villages. Carrying stolen property, Home's men were confronted by a band of English under Sir [[William Bulmer (politician)|William Bulmer of Brancepeth]] in County Durham. The Durham men won the battle and for many subsequent years, the Scots name for the road through Milfield was "The Ill Road". Many years after the rout of Home's men, [[General Monck]] waited at Milfield with his forces before his march south which brought about the [[Stuart Restoration]].<ref name=Ridley>{{cite book | last = Ridley | first = Nancy | author-link = Nancy Ridley | title = Portrait of Northumberland | publisher = Robert Hale | year = 1966|edition=reprint | oclc = 503957631 | location = London | isbn = <!-- no ISBN available--> }}</ref>
During the Second World War, an air training unit operated from the nearby [[RAF Milfield]].
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== Notable people == [[Josephine Butler]], a Victorian social reformer, was born at Milfield House. She was a prominent campaigner against the practice of child prostitution, and led an eventually successful effort to repeal the [[Contagious Diseases Acts]] (which granted the right for police to perform compulsory physical examinations on women suspected to be prostitutes). A [[Josephine Butler College|college]] was named after her at [[Durham University]] and a residency block there was named Milfield in honour of her birthplace.<ref name=Ridley /> <!-- == See also == -->
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Milfield}} *[http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/Milfield.htm Northumberland Communities] <small>(Accessed: 27 November 2008)</small>
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[[Category:Villages in Northumberland]] [[Category:Northumberland places with etymologically Brittonic names]]