Kirknewton Parish And The Township Of Hethpool

The 19th century township of Hethpool, which forms the basic framework for the historical summary set out in volume XI of the Northumberland County History, edited by Kenneth Vickers (NCH XII (1922), 249-68), comprised one of 15 townships incorporated in the huge, 38,000 acre parish of Kirknewton which embraced the bulk of the north Cheviot massif and a substantial proportion of what is now the Northumberland National Park.

Hethpool township itself contained 1123 acres. It embraced the west side of the valley of the College Burn from the boundary with Westnewton township, at the foot of The Bell, as far as upstream as the confluence with the Trowup Burn, including the neighbouring hills of Little Hetha and Great Hetha, plus the lower stretches of the tributary side valley of the Elsdon Burn, flanked by White Hill to the north and the two Hethas the south. The village is situated at the confluence of the College Burn and the Elsdon Burn on the tongue of land bounded by the two streams.

Hethpool falls within the modern civil parish of Kirknewton which covers a much wider area also embracing the former townships of Kirknewton, Westnewton, Yeavering, Crookhouse, Grey’s Forest and substantial parts of Selby’s Forest and Coupland.