KNOW YOUR PARISH: ALNHAM

J. K. Brown

The obscure hamlet of Alnham is one of the tiniest in the county of Northumberland, and the population of the parish can only be described as sparse. Many Northumbrians of today may wonder where it is actually situated: the clue to its location is in the name, 'ham' being an old English word denoting home or dwelling place, and 'Aln' being the name of the river on which it stands. It is here that the river, no more than a stream, first trickles forth from the wild hills and then winds its meandering way through rich tillage and lush pastures until it eventually reaches the sea at Alnmouth, some twenty miles to the east.

The hamlet of Alnham is within six miles of Scotland, in the foothills of the Cheviots. The focal point of any parish is the church that at Alnham stands in a remote position as strongly as it has for many hundreds of years. The hamlet consists of the Church, now unused, the nearby vicarage which was originally a fortified pele tower built to repel Scottish raiders, and one or two farms. Nothing remains of Alnham castle but the turf covered foundations which can be seen on a grassy knoll a short distance to the south-east of the church. Alnham suffered much from plundering raids of the Scots, and on the 10th October 1532 the whole village was burnt down by these wild marauders. Fortunately today's Scottish visitors come with more peaceful intent and are always welcome.

At the beginning of this century the natives called the village 'Yeldom', and over the years there have been many variations in the spelling of the name. In 1331 it was known as Alenham, in 1354 Alenham, in 1509 Elnam, and in 1663 Ailnham. `The population as given by census returns reached a peak of 295 in 1861, and it is probably much less today. The parish consists of the small townships of Alnham, Prendwick, Scrainwood, and Unthank, and these can only be described as small hamlets or settlements with the odd farmhouse here and there. The parish comprises about 12,4011 acres, and as in so many remote parishes of Northumberland there are more sheep than people. It is a lovely corner of the county, with its rolling hills and fast flowing streams that ripple and flash over sandstone or granite rocks, to the sound of the bleating of sheep and the song of the birds - a place of peace and tranquillity in complete contrast with other parts of the kingdom more often in the news.

Above the village of Alnham is Castlehill camp, a fine specimen of a Celtic camp, a circular earthwork one hundred yards in diameter. The views of the Cheviot Hills to the north and west, and the Simonside hills to the south, can only be described as awe-inspiring.

"Breathes there the man with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land!"

The little church with its stone tiled roof looks rather forlorn, standing on its own behind dry stone walls amidst the oak and the ash. In former days it was much larger, and outside the north wall of the nave can be seen the outline of an earlier arcade. The chancel arch is Norman, but its round pillars have 13th century capitals. Within the walls of the church and in the burial ground outside are several quaint tablets and moss-covered gravestones marking the burial places of past generations of parishioners of this remote and quiet parish. The inscription on a tablet on the west pier of the south transept was erected to the memory of two sons of one of Northumberland's most noble and illustrious families, the Collingwoods. The family seat of the Collingwoods was at Eslington, in the adjoining parish of Whittingham, but there were branches of the family at both Prendwick and Unthank. Sons William and Percival Collingwood both died before reaching the age of 45 years.

The list of vicars is, of course, lengthy, starting with Robert, the Chaplain of Alnham 1228 Walter de Alnham 1316, Thomas de Durem William de Halliwell 1370, etc. until the present time.

In 1291 a tax was levied on all church property, and Alnham Rectory was valued at £3I; in 1340 it was £37. The following interesting notice of Alnham Church is found in Tate's History of Alnwick, Vol. I, page 289; it is part of a formal document written in 1597 by Henry, the ninth Earl of Northumberland, to his cousin. Thomas Percy. known as the Conspirator (he was one of the leaders in the Gunpowder Plot with Guy Fawkes, and was slain at Holbeach in 1605). Thomas, for whom the Earl appears to have had a great regard, was for many years Constable of Alnwick Castle: "The very true and undoubted patrons of the parishe and churche of Alnham sending greeting in the Lord God Everlasting, graunts by his writing to my well-beloved cosyn Thomas Percy, his executors, and assignees, the first and next advowsome, donation, domination, presentation and free disposition of the Rectory and Parsonage of the Parish churche of Alneham." Unfortunately for Henry his trust was misplaced; his cousin was dishonest, unjust and harsh. When unable to extort money from the Earl’s tenants he frequently had them thrown into prison in the castle. Because of his involvement with Guy Fawkes suspicion naturally fell on the Earl, and although nothing could be proved against him, he was confined to the Tower of London for the next fifteen years, and was only released on payment of a  heavy fine - but that is another story.

The earlier parish registers of Alnham have disappeared, and those in existence are comparatively recent considering the age of the church: they do start until 1688. In some year’s .there are no entries, illustrating the sparseness of the population. The names most frequently appearing in the registers are those of Alder,Collingwood Bolam and Davison.

The manor of Scrainwood, on the boundary between the Aln and the Coquet, was held in turbulent times by an old Northumbrian family, the Horsleys. An official report on the state of the Borders, made in 1509 reads: "Thomas Horsley of Skyenwood has twenty men." The manor first emerges from the mists of antiquity as a possessions of the de Vescys - the Lords of Alnwick before the Percys. The last of the de Vescys died in 1314, when the male line became extinct. Roger de Horsley was in 1320 one of the Keepers of the Truce between the English and Scottish kingdoms; he died in 1358, but the manor was still held by the family in 1663.

Apart from Unthank, the only other hamlet in the parish is that of Prendwick, which in earlier  times was also held by the de Vescy family. The Border Survey of 1541 states, however, that: "At Prendyke ye Lykewise, a liyttle toure (tower) newly uylded by one, Thomas Allder and George Allder of Prendyk." The Alders were the owners of the land for upwards of two hundred years. In 1792 the whole of Prendwick estate was purchased from the families of Byne and Alder by Ralph Carr, a direct ancestor of the present Carr-Ellison family, the head of which is now a Deputy Lieutenant of the County. A small part of Northumberland, but a valuable part of our heritage!

The Parish Registers of Alnham have been deposited at the Northumberland Archives, Woodhorn.

The Northumberland & Durham Family History Society hold the following records:

Baptisms 1688 to 1812. Marriages 1705 to 1837. Burials 1727 to 1812. Monumental Inscriptions with index

There is a brief history of the parish in “An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive view of the county of Northumberland by Eneas Mackenzie starting at page 22