Newburn

Newburn, an urban district in the Tyneside parliamentary division of Northumberland, England, on the Tyne, 51m. W. of Newcastle by a branch of the North Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 12,500. It has collieries, and iron, steel, engineering, tool and fire-clay works, and there is a large industrial population. Newburn is of considerable antiquity. Roman remains have been discovered in proximity to Hadrian's Wall. A church here was destroyed by fire in 1072 in the course of a dispute between two claimants of the earldom of Northumberland. Here in 1640 the Scottish Covenanters planted guns to protect them while fording the river, after which they defeated the English on the Durham side at Stellaheugh, and subsequently occupied Newcastle. The name of Scotswood, one of the manufacturing villages between Newburn and the city, commemorates one of their positions. The district has many associations with the famous engineer George Stephenson, born at Wylam, 3 m. W.