Hexham

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See also Hexham, New South Wales, and Hexham (constituency).

Template:Infobox England place with map Hexham is a market town in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne. Hexham is the administrative centre for the Tynedale district. In 2001, it had a population of 11,139+.

Hexham originated as a monastery founded by Saint Wilfrid in 674. Its crypt survives, while the large Hexham Abbey dates from the 11th century onward. Other notable buildings in the town include the Moot Hall and the Old Gaol.

There are many smaller towns and villages that surround Hexham, such as Corbridge, Riding Mill, Stocksfield, Prudhoe and Wylam to the east with Haydon Bridge and Bardon Mill to the west. The closest major city to Hexham is Newcastle upon Tyne and is approximately 25 miles to the east.

Hexham was the county town of the former county of Hexhamshire. Hexham is part of the parliamentary constituency of Hexham. The current MP is the Conservative Peter Atkinson.

The local newspaper serving Hexham and Tynedale since 1864 is called the Hexham Courant. It was first launched by J. Catherall which espoused the Liberal cause. In 1977, CN Group had taken over the business and has since continued to grow.

Hexham also has it's own offical market town website called HexhamNet. It was first launched in October 2003 and continues to serve both the local community as well as visiting tourist to Tynedale.

The town is served by Hexham railway station.

Hexham is home to rock and roll outfit, Peace Burial at Sea. The town is the birthplace of Pete Doherty, formerly of rock band The Libertines, and Andy Duncan captain of Cambridge United F.C..

Hexham won the Town award in the 2005 Britain in Bloom awards.

The name of Hexham came from Anglo-Saxon Hagustaldeshām = "Hagulstald's stream", although it is often incorrectly regarded to mean 'land or settlement of witches'.

In Hexham the Subskimmer was first designed and made, by Submarine Products Ltd.

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