A Short History Of Corbridge

By: Patrick Attlee Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Corbridge, which is now a quiet village in Northumberland in the North of England, once ranked as an important Northumbrian town. In Roman times it was one of the largest stations in the north of England, called in the Antonine Itinerary Corstopitum. But before that the Britons certainly occupied the site and many of their camps and burial mounds are to be found in the neighbourhood; remains which go back to the early Bronze Age. The Roman Station occupies a gentle rising near the Cor burn, 600 yards west of the town and was approached from the south by a bridge whose foundations can be seen when the river is low. This bridge carried across the Tyne one of the great Roman military roads - the famous Watling Street, or to give it its older name, Dere Street.

Although some English towns sprang up on the sites occupied by the Romans the new settlements were usually in the immediate neighbourhood, possibly from superstitious motives.

The first written evidence of Corbridge's existence occurs in 800 A.D. when the Anglian settlement is called Et Corabrige. The name is clearly derived from the Roman bridge, and is therefore one of the few places before the Norman Conquest named after a bridge. However it is not known where the first part of the word - COR -comes from. The Cor burn clearly derives its name from the village. Probably the word COR is that part of the Roman name which survived.

It is a matter of historical record that a bishop was consecrated at the Corbridge monastery. This monastery is clearly the parish church whose porch was built entirely of Roman stones. The style of the building is similar to the seventh century churches of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth. It is dedicated to St. Andrew like four other Tyne valley churches, Bywell, Hexham, Heddon and Newcastle.

It has been suggested that when the kingdom of Northumbria declined and Bamburgh was no longer used as a capital the royal seat was removed to Corbridge. The town certainly prospered mainly because it was at the junction of two ancient highways, namely Dere Street and the Stanegate. The Roman Stanegate was the main road across the isthmus from Tynemouth to Carlisle, until the Military Road was built. A market was quickly established as a consequence of this trade. First mentioned in the thirteenth century it was clearly in existence long before that. There was a fair held at nearby Stagshaw Bank every year. This was just a mile to the north up Watling Street. The development of the Alston lead and silver mines meant that this fair continued to prosper into the twentieth century. Corbridge appears to have had a royal mint. Coins of the period of Henry I have been found with the stamp EREBALD ON COLEB. During this period, the royal tax paid by Corbridge ranked as high as that paid by Newcastle which shows how important Corbridge was. In 1201, when King John was in the north, he caused a search to be made at Corbridge imagining the town had once been large and populous, and must have been ruined by an earthquake, and that the people would have been unable to remove their wealth. Legen says that this search was in vain.

I hope this article ha provided an informative insight into the Anglian history of Corbridge.

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