Alnmouth

Alnmouth
View of Alnmouth and the estuary of the River Aln
Alnmouth is located in Northumberland
Alnmouth
Alnmouth
Location within Northumberland
Population445 [1]
OS grid referenceNU245105
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townALNWICK
Postcode districtNE66
Dialling code01665
PoliceNorthumbria
FireNorthumberland
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Northumberland
55°23′16″N 1°36′45″W / 55.3879°N 1.6124°W / 55.3879; -1.6124

Alnmouth (/ˈæl(ə)nmθ/) is a coastal village in Northumberland, England, situated 4 miles (6 km) east-south-east of Alnwick. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 Census was 562, reducing to 445 at the 2011 Census.[2]

Located at the mouth of the River Aln, the village had a port supporting a small fishing industry and engaging in national and international trade. It was for a time a leading north-east centre for the export of grain and other foodstuffs, especially to London, and specialised in the import of timber and slate. These activities to some extent shaped the village, as granaries were constructed to store grain, and sawmills and a boatyard established to process wood and build ships.

Port activities declined at the end of the 19th century, in part because of the deterioration of the port due to the shifting and silting of the river estuary, in part as trade transferred to the railways. A notable change in the course of the river during a violent storm in 1806 resulted in the loss of the remains of the village's original church and disruption to the functioning of the port and industries.

With the coming of the railways, Alnmouth transformed into a coastal resort complete with one of the earliest English golf courses, a holiday camp, bathing houses, beach huts and spacious sea-view villas. In contemporary times, Alnmouth is a well conserved picturesque coastal resort and tourist attraction, lying within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

  1. ^ "Neighbourhood Statistics". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.