Morpeth is situated on the River Wansbeck, and it is the
county town of Northumberland an d it has a population of 14,000.
Morpeth was crossing point of the River Wansbeck and it was possibly
a Roman settlement. After the Norman Conquest the town was owned by the
de Merlay family and they built a motte and bailey castle in 1095.
Morpeth Castle was built in the fourteenth century by Ranulph de Merlay
on the site of an earlier fortress: only the gatehouse (which was
restored by the Landmark Trust in 1990 and parts of the ruined castle
walls remain.
Newminster Abbey was founded in 1138 by Ranulf de
Merlay, lord of Morpeth, as a daughter houses of the Cistercian Abbey of
Fountains. King John granted a market charter to the town in 1199 and
the town was burnt in 1215 during the First Barons' War. During the
1543–50 war of the Rough Wooing, Morpeth garrisoned by Italian
mercenaries, who 'pestered such a little street standing in the highway'
by killing deer and withholding payment for food. Morpeth received a
charter of incorporation from Charles II and the corporation was
controlled by seven trade guilds; the Merchant Tailors, the Tanners, the
Fullers and Dyers, the Smiths, the Cordwainers, the Weavers and the
Butchers. Until the nineteenth century Morpeth had one of the main
markets in northern England for live cattle but, after the opening of
the railways, the market declined.
![Morpeth_003](../images/Morpeth_003.jpg)
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