Bamburgh Castle

The Bamburgh Sword is an Anglo-Saxon artefact from the seventh century. It was uncovered during an archaeological excavation at Bamburgh Castle in 1960 by Brian Hope-Taylor. The sword was missing until his death in 2001, when it was found in a suitcase in his garage. It is unique amongst swords of its period, having been formed by six strands of iron pattern welded into a blade, resulting in speculation that it may have been the sword of a king.

Bamburgh Dunes are a region of coastal sand dunes with an area of over 40 hectares situated around the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. The dunes, which stand in the shadow of the impressive Bamburgh Castle, have been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) since 1995 and are part of the North Northumberland Dunes Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The dunes have a rich diversity of flora and fauna and in places provide good examples of “climbing dunes” found where sand has been blown onto high ground adjacent to the beach. Bamburgh Dunes vary from open sandy beaches, through low ridges dominated by marram grass, to more stable grass-covered dunes. These occur as a series of irregular parallel sand ridges and hummocks separated by hollows, which are seasonally wet. Some of the plant species include the pyramidal orchid, Centaurium, sea sandwort and petalwort (which is on the List of endangered species in the British Isles). The dunes are also rich in rare insect life. Over 500 species have been identified, with 15 rare species that include a plant hopper (Dicranotropis divergens), a grass-mining fly (Opomyza punctata), and a shore fly (Psilopa marginella). Birds attracted to the dunes include grasshopper warbler, sedge warbler, European stonechat, meadow pipit and reed bunting. In winter, short-eared owl and water rail are also found. Over the years more vigorous invasive plant species and scrub have encroached, making the dune system too stabilised and threatening the uniqueness of Bamburgh Dunes, as most rare plant species appreciate the unstable and shifting structure of sand dunes. In an effort to counteract this, Bamburgh Castle Estate, English Nature, DEFRA, Northumberland County Council and Bamburgh Parish Council have come up with a plan of management which has resulted in cattle being allowed to graze the dunes since 2000 to break up the dominant grass cover. A fence has been erected to contain the cattle within the dunes. Access by people is encouraged within the fenced area with stiles and gates sited on the main paths. An ancient Anglo-Saxon 7th century burial ground was unearthed in the dunes to the southeast of Bamburgh Castle during an archaeological dig in 1998 by the Bamburgh Research Project. The burial ground, called the Bowl Hole, had been known to exist since 1816 when violent storms removed large amounts of dune sand and uncovered the site for a period. The BBC television programme “Meet the Ancestors” became involved during the dig and screened a programme about the finds in February 2001.

St Aidan's Church is a Grade I listed Church of England building in the Diocese of Newcastle.

The Monument to Grace Darling, in the churchyard of St Aidan's Church, Bamburgh, Northumberland is a Victorian Gothic memorial. The monument was designed by Anthony Salvin, with later renovations by Frederick Wilson, C. R. Smith and W. S. Hicks. Grace Darling was born on 24 November 1815, the daughter of the lighthouseman at Longstone Lighthouse. In 1838, Darling became a national heroine when she and her father rescued nine people from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire, a ship that had run aground off Big Harcar, an island off the Northumbrian coast. Darling died of tuberculosis aged 26 in 1842, and the monument was raised some distance to the north of her grave to make it visible to passing sailors, at the west edge of the churchyard in the same year. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

Bamburgh ( BAM-bər-ə) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census.Bamburgh was the centre of an independent north Northumbrian territory between 867 and 954. Bamburgh Castle was built by the Normans on the site of an Anglo-Saxon fort. The Victorian era heroine Grace Darling is buried there. The extensive beach by the village was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005. The Bamburgh Dunes, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, stand behind the beach. Bamburgh is popular with holidaymakers and is within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Burton is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bamburgh, in the county of Northumberland, England. It is situated to the south of the village of Bamburgh, a short distance inland from the North Sea coast. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 60. On 1 April 1955 the civil parish was merged into Bamburgh.

Bamburgh Coast and Hills is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the coast of north Northumberland, England. The site is one of the longest-standing SSSIs in England, having been listed since 1954, and displays the interaction of a fluid magma rock, now known as the Whin Sill, interacting with older sedimentary rock. Coastal erosion at the site enables sections of the geological strata to be seen. In turn, the soil associated with the Whin Sill gives rise to a distinct pattern of vegetation which on its own merits is at this site found notable.

Glororum is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bamburgh in the county of Northumberland, England, about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) south west of Bamburgh. In 1951 the parish had a population of 13.

Brada Hill is a small hill escarpment near the coast of north Northumberland in North East England, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The 2.4 hectares (5.9 acres) site is an outcropping of a local stone group, the Whin Sill, on which grows a range of flora representative of the thin, drought-prone soil conditions and influenced by the underlying geology.

Waren, also known as Warn, Waren Bay, Warenmouth and Warenquay, was a seaport at Budle Bay, on the north-east coast of England, the recorded history of which spans from the 1240s to the early twentieth century. Waren was England's northernmost mainland port during periods in which Berwick Upon Tweed was controlled by the Kingdom of Scotland. The port was associated with Bamburgh and its castle, situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the east-south-east.

Budle Bay is a 1 mile (1.6 km) wide bay on the North Sea in Northumberland, England, between Bamburgh to the southeast and Lindisfarne to the northwest. The bay is roughly square in plan opening to the North Sea along its northeastern side. Budle Point forms its eastern extremity. It is overlooked by Bamburgh Castle Golf Club at this point and by the Northumberland Coast Path and St Oswald's Way which share a common route in this vicinity. Waren Burn enters the bay at its southern corner whilst Ross Low, a smaller burn enters from the western corner. The two streams meet in the intertidal zone and continue east to the low water mark as Budle Water. The bay forms a part of the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve. It is also a part of the Goswick-Holy Island-Budle Bay GCR site These are sites listed in the Geological Conservation Review as being of national importance; in this case for its coastal geomorphology. It is underlain by limestone and other rock types of the Alston Formation though these are not exposed except along parts of its southeastern shore. The quartz-microgabbro of the Whin Sill occupies the higher ground on this southeastern side of the bay. There are extensive deposits of blown sand forming Ross Links at the opposite side of the bay and much of the bedrock on the southeastern side is obscured by similar dune deposits.A seaport existed in Budle Bay up to the early twentieth century variously called Waren, Warenmouth and Warenquay.

Bradford Kames is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is an esker, a ridge of glacial till deposited in the Pleistocene epoch.