Humbleton Township, 1848

HUMBLETON, a township, in the parish of Doddington, union, and E. division of the ward, of Glendale, N. division of Northumberland, 1 mile (W.N.W.) from Wooler; containing 185 inhabitants. This place is memorable as the scene of a sanguinary battle in 1402, between the Scots under Earl Douglas, who had previously laid waste the country as far as Newcastle, and the English army under Lord Percy and the Earl of March; the former to the number of 10,000 men were defeated, with great slaughter, and in commemoration a pillar has been erected on the plain, which, from the number of the slain, retains the name of Redriggs. The township comprises about 1,500 acres, of which 600 are meadow and pasture, and the remainder arable: the lands near the village are in good cultivation, and the soil, consisting chiefly of debris of porphyrean rock, is fertile; the hills afford pasture for sheep, and the scenery is embellished with several belts of plantations. On rising ground near Humbleton burn, is an ancient encampment called Green Castle; and on the summit of Humbleton Hill, overlooking the field of battle, is a circular intrenchment, with a large cairn: the declivity of the hill is cut into terraces rising above each other to the height of 20 feet. A stone coffin, inclosing the remains of a gigantic skeleton and an urn, was discovered here in 1811; and there are some remains of a chapel and burial-ground.