Place:Hedgeley, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Hedgeley from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"HEDGELEY, a township in Eglingham parish, Northumberland; under the Cheviots, near the river Breamish, 8 miles WNW of Alnwick. Acres: 700. Population: 104. Houses: 17. Hedgeley House is a chief residence. A Druidical circle of ten stones, and 114 feet in diameter, is at Three Stone burn. A skirmish between the Lancastrians, under Sir Ralph Percy, and the Yorkists, under Lord Montacute, took place, in 1463, on Hedgeley moor, and was fatal to Sir Ralph Percy. A stone pillar, known as Hedgeley cross, stands in commemoration of him, and bears the inscription "'Tis of the Percy's deathless fame, That dark grey cross remains to tell; It bears the Percy's honoured name, For near its base the Percy fell"."

Hedgeley was a township in the ancient parish of Eglingham. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of Alnwick Rural District. In 1955 it absorbed the surrounding parishes of Beanley, Bolton, Crawley, Glanton and Shawdon. In 1974 rural districts were abolished and Hedgeley became part of the Alnwick District until 2009 when Northumberland became a unitary authority.

Research Tips

• Northumberland Archives previously known as Northumberland Collections Service and Northumberland County Record Office. Now based within Woodhorn Museum in Ashington and providing free access to numerous records for local and family historians alike.

Full postal address: Museum and Northumberland Archives, Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9YF; Phone: 01670 624455

There is a branch office in Berwick upon Tweed.

• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and County Durham. The Family History Society have a research centre in Percy House in central Newcastle upon Tyne (full address on website), open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1832 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time. This map includes the boundaries of the various Wards (or "hundreds") in existence at that time.
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.
• Unfortunately, there is no Victoria County History for Northumberland.