Prudhoe | Co-Curate

Prudhoe is a medium-sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England, about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam, Stocksfield, Crawcrook, Hedley on the Hill and Mickley. Prudhoe has a population of over 11,500, measured at 11,675 in the 2011 Census. Today, it has largely become a commuter town for nearby Newcastle.

History

There has been a castle at Prudhoe since ancient times, when England was at war with Scotland. The area now known as Castlefields was a fruit orchard, and the Scots were rumoured to have burnt this orchard while attempting to capture Prudhoe Castle. The castle, originally owned by the D'Umfravilles, then the Percys and now English Heritage, is considered to be the only medieval fortification in Northumberland never to have been captured by the Scots.

In the 18th century, a small hamlet of farms was built in the Prudhoe area and, by the 1800s, a coal mine had been established at West Wylam. At that point, South Road was the main street, with a church and a row of cottages – similar to how it looks today.

During the Cold War, there was a Royal Observer Corps Underground Monitoring Post opposite Highfield Park, the surface features have since been demolished. It was 1 of approximately 1,563 similar underground monitoring posts built all across the UK during the Cold War to monitor the effects of a Nuclear strike. They were operated by the ROC who were mostly civilian volunteers who worked in groups of three inside the posts. Prudhoe ROC post was opened in June 1962 and closed in September 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw the end of the Cold War.

Governance

Local government services for Prudhoe are provided by Northumberland County Council. The town is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham. Prudhoe is the primary settlement within the Civil Parish of Prudhoe, which is situated in Tynedale. The Town Council meets at The Spetchells Centre, Front Street.

Traditionally Prudhoe has had more in common politically with places like Blaydon than the rest of Hexham constituency. For example, in 2013 both wards in Prudhoe returned Labour councillors, with the Conservatives only able to finish third. This contrasts with Hexham, where the Conservatives dominated, and especially other rural areas.