Ryal, Northumberland

Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the town of Hexham and the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of a 19th-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the 7th Premier of British Columbia, William Smithe. In 2001 it had a population of 495.

Great Whittington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whittington, in Northumberland, England, 7 miles NE of Hexham. In 1951 the parish had a population of 158.

Matfen Hall is a 19th-century country mansion in Matfen, Northumberland, England, the seat of the Blackett baronets and now also a hotel and country golf club. It is a Grade II* listed building. The manor of West Matfen was owned in the 13th century by Philip de Ulcote and passed through his sisters to Felton, by marriage to Hastings and later to Lawson. In 1625 the estate was bought by Lancelot Fenwick of a branch of the old-established local family. The manor and manor house, West Matfen High Hall, was sold in 1680 to John Douglas, Town Clerk of Newcastle. His granddaughter and Douglas heiress married Sir Edward Blackett, Bt., in 1757, thereby bringing the estate into the Blackett family. The present house was built to replace the old manor, in 1832 for Sir William Blackett, 6th Baronet. The impressive Jacobean-style mansion has a three-storey seven-bay entrance front. An important internal feature is a full-height Gothic hall. Between 1965 and 1994 the house was leased out, operating as the Northumberland Cheshire Home. Sir Hugh Blackett, the 12th Baronet, and Lady Blackett have since converted the hall into a hotel and country club, which opened in 1999. The Blacketts now live at Halton Castle, a few miles west of Matfen.

Milecastle 20 (Halton Shields) was one of the milecastles on Hadrian's Wall (grid reference NZ01886868). It is situated in the hamlet of Halton Shields, and was excavated in 1935. There is no visible trace of the milecastle above ground.

Milecastle 21 (Down Hill) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. The site was identified by measurement only, as the milecastle's remains have been totally removed. This is probably due to extensive quarrying at the site, which now lies under pasture (and partly beneath the Military Road).

Milecastle 19 (Matfen Piers) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Sited just to the east of the hamlet of Matfen Piers, the milecastle is today covered by the B6318 Military Road. The milecastle is notable for the discovery of an altar by Eric Birley in the 1930s. An inscription on the altar is one of the few dedications to a mother goddess found in Roman Britain, and was made by members of the First Cohort of Varduli from northern Spain. The presence of the Vardulians at this milecastle has led to debate amongst archaeologists over the origins of troops used to garrison the wall. A smaller altar was found at one of the two associated turrets.

Hunnum (also known as Onnum, and with the modern name of Halton Chesters) was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall located north of the modern-day village of Halton, Northumberland in North East England. It was the fifth fort on Hadrian's Wall and is situated about 7.5 miles west of Vindobala fort, 5.9 miles east of Chesters fort and 2.5 miles north of the Stanegate fort of Coria (Corbridge). The site of the fort is bisected by the B6318 Military Road, which runs along the route of the wall at that point. The fort may also have guarded Dere Street which crosses the Roman Wall through the valley immediately to the west, but its distance from Dere Street and that Milecastle 22 was also displaced from Dere Street implies that this was not a priority and may have been expected to be disused north of the Wall after Hadrian's Wall was built.The Latinised Brittonic name “Onnum” may mean "Stream/Water", "Ash tree", or “Rock”; if it means "Stream", it may be a reference to the Fence Burn, where a stream touches the line of Hadrian's Wall, but if it means "Rock", it may refer to Down Hill situated to the east of it.

Halton Castle is a pele tower and grade I listed building situated close to Hadrian's Wall to the north of the village of Corbridge in Northumberland, England. The tower was first recorded in 1382 and it is still present today. It has four storeys and a basement with a stone vault. In the 15th century a manor house was built onto the north side of the tower giving it a T-shaped plan. In about 1696 much of this building was demolished by the then owner John Douglas and replaced with the present five-bay residence. In 1757 Anne Douglas the heiress of Halton married Sir Edward Blackett and the castle remains a residence of the Blackett family.

Halton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whittington, in the southern part of Northumberland, England. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Corbridge just south of Hadrian's Wall. In 1951 the parish had a population of 24.Halton Castle is a pele tower and grade I listed building.

Milecastle 22 (Portgate) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Its remains exist as a low, turf covered platform just east of the Portgate roundabout (junction of the A68 and B6318). The platform is 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) on the east side, reducing to only a parch mark on the west side.

Bingfield is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whittington, in Northumberland, in England. It is situated to the north of Corbridge, off the A68 road and includes some properties situated on the A68 (Dere Street). In 1951 the parish had a population of 76.

The Portgate was a fortified gateway, constructed as part of Hadrian's Wall where it crossed the Roman road now known as Dere Street, which preceded Hadrian's Wall by around 50 years. It was built to control traffic along Dere Street as it passed north through Hadrian's Wall. The gate's remains exist beneath the old B6318 Military Road to the south-west of the Stagshaw Roundabout (the B6318 was diverted slightly for the construction of the Stagshaw Roundabout, leaving two short sections of the existing road unlinked – the remains of the Portgate are buried beneath the western section).