Search results for ""Author Dr Stan Beckensall""

Northumberland has a great many attractive sites that are well-recorded, and are frequently visited and written about. However, in this new book Dr Stan Beckensall focuses upon places that are off the beaten track, not so well known, but all of enormous interest for their stunning locations and stories. They are scattered across the county in the hills, valleys, scarplands and on the coast. Sites featured include locations off the 'Alemouth Road' from Hexham to Rothbury; hidden valleys and waterfalls at Linhope Spout, Roughting Linn and Hareshaw Linn; seascapes; abandoned settlements and industry centres; pilgrimage routes; graveyards, and the remarkable rock formations that make up much of the landscape. Northumberland hides some of its history in names, and these too are revealed. Throughout are the author's reflections on the significance of what is seen and known.

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The importance of the attractive town of Hexham began when St Wifrid built his great monastery there in the 7th Century, of which only the unique crypt remains beneath the Priory church. It was bounded by a wall that separated it from the Market Place and the civil administration, which includes the Moothall and Old Gaol. These areas still form the nucleus of the town, which lay in the turbulent Border country between England and Scotland. The vital industry of tanning and glove-making has now gone, but there are smaller industries in its place. The town is a focus of music, the arts and sport. The Queen's Hall houses library, cafe, galleries and theatre. It is linked by roads and by the early Carlisle-Newcastle railway which bring in tourists and local people for many activities such as the Hexham Gathering and the Abbey Arts Festival. Much has changed, but the historic centre remains intact. The author has lived here for over 30 years and is an Honorary Steward and Bailiff of the town.

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Northumberland was one of the greatest influences on the development of Christianity in Europe. Stan Beckensall guides the reader in words and full-colour pictures through the history of Northumberland's old churches, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the Reformation. The architecture of these beautiful buildings provides a unique insight into the history of the county. The Anglo-Saxon period saw the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels on Holy Island and those of the Venerable Bede in nearby Jarrow. This 'golden age' also produced exceptionally fine church buildings and their contents, many of which were later to be laid waste by Vikings. This book traces the achievements of that age through remaining structures such as the incredible crypt at Hexham, the tall, slender towers that are still part of many churches, and other features. The Norman period is also well represented, followed by the Transitional period when the pointed arch began to replace the rounded one, until it replaced it fully. Northumberland's development was then largely determined by its position as border country, which seriously affected church construction, the emphasis being more on defence in castles and fortified towers. Such period trends were confined to slight changes in existing churches, and there were few later developments except in Alnwick, protected by the defences of that town. In addition, Beckensall looks at the origins of the names of towns and villages that had churches, and comments on their location, with the help of stunning aerial photography.

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