Alnwick

Coordinates: 55°24′48″N 1°42′25″W / 55.4134°N 1.7069°W / 55.4134; -1.7069

Alnwick (ⁱ/ˈænᵻk/) is a market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8,000 at the 2001 census, rising to 8,116 at the 2011 Census, while the former Alnwick district's population was (in 2001) 31,029.

According to Country Life, October 2002, "Alnwick is the most picturesque market town in Northumberland, and the best place to live in Britain". The town is situated largely on the south bank of the River Aln, 32 miles (51 km) south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, 5 miles (8 km) inland from the North Sea at Alnmouth and 34 miles (55 km) north of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The town dates back to about AD 600, and over the centuries has thrived as an agricultural centre; as the location of Alnwick Castle and home of the most powerful medieval northern baronial family, the Earls of Northumberland; as a staging post on the Great North Road between Edinburgh and London, and latterly as a modern rural centre and dormitory town. The fabric of the town centre has changed relatively little, and retains much of its original character; but the town has, in recent years, seen some growth, with several housing estates covering what had been pasture, and new factory and trading estate developments along the roads to the south of the town.

Alnwick District

Alnwick was a local government district of Northumberland, England. Its council was based in Alnwick town and the district had a population of 31,029 according to the 2001 census.

It was one of the most rural and sparsely populated districts in the United Kingdom, having a resident population of 32,300 in an area of 1,079.51 square kilometres, according to the 2001 census. (That is 29 persons per km² compared with the UK average of 245 persons per km².) Just over 50% of the population was located in the three main towns of Alnwick (7,600), Amble (6,100) and Rothbury (2,500), with the remainder dispersed across large and small villages, hamlets and isolated dwellings.

It was the second most racially homogeneous community in the country, in the terms measured in the 2001 census with 99.6% of the population recording their ethnicity as White.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the urban districts of Alnwick and Amble and the rural districts of Alnwick and Rothbury. The district was abolished as part of structural changes to local government in England effective from 1 April 2009. Its responsibilities were transferred to Northumberland County Council, which became a unitary authority.

Alnwick (surname)

Alnwick is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: