Belford, United Kingdom

History

For much of the Middle Ages, Belford was at the forefront of the ongoing border conflict between the Scots and the English and it is believed that only Well House escaped damage or destruction at the hands of Scottish raiders. In 1272 it is recorded that Walter de Huntercombe, the Lord of the Manor, was charged with 'assisting pirates'. They had seized, by force, goods belonging to some wealthy Spanish merchants and landed with their booty on Holy Island.

In 1726, A wealthy city merchant, Abraham Dixon bought the Belford Estate. He made improvements which enhanced the fortunes of its inhabitants significantly including purchasing a licence in 1742 allowing him to hold a weekly market and two annual fairs at Belford. His son continued improvements after his death in 1746 and by 1770, a visitor was able to report the existence of a woollen mill, a tannery, collieries and a 'large lime kiln'. Improvements to hygiene were also imposed upon the inhabitants with the forced removal of muck heaps from the houses and the banning of swine.

Larger market towns have gradually replaced Belford in importance and the location of the station outside of the town itself did nothing to halt a gradual decline in its fortunes since the end of the 19th century. Many of the features of its heyday have been retained however.

From the History section of Belford, Northumberland on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.