Place:Kielder, Northumberland, England

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the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Kielder village is a small, remote village in a civil parish of 20,000 acres in western Northumberland, England. Located at the head of Kielder Water and in the northwest of Kielder Forest, the village is 3 miles (5 km) from the border with Scotland.

There was early settlement around Kielder Castle, a hunting lodge built by the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. Previous settlements were expanded in the 1950s by the Forestry Commission who constructed housing to accommodate the workers employed in the planting of Kielder Forest.

The economy of Kielder was based on forestry and is now also based on tourism. Prior to the 20th century the economy of the area was based on sheep farming. Kielder Water was created in 1982.

The Forestry Act 1919 established the Forestry Commission with a purpose of forming a strategic reserve of timber for the country. The first plantings at Kielder were in 1926 when 800 hectares (3 sq mi) of coniferous trees were planted. A further 19,000 hectares (73 sq mi) were purchased in 1932 and today 62,000 hectares (239 sq mi) of forest are under Forestry Commission control.

Although timber production remains an integral part of the forestry operation, it also has the aims of encouraging the public to use the forest as an educational resource and to sustain and enhance wildlife conservation.

Kielder civil parish was created in either 1955 or 1958 (sources differ) from the parish of Plashetts and Tynehead which was abolished at that time. From that time until 1974 the parish was part of Bellingham Rural District. In 1974 rural districts were abolished and Kielder became part of the Tynedale 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.