Prudhoe is a medium-sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England, about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam, Stocksfield, Crawcrook, Hedley on the Hill and Mickley. Prudhoe has a population of over 11,500, measured at 11,675 in the 2011 Census. Today, it has largely become a commuter town for nearby Newcastle.HistoryThere has been a castle at Prudhoe since ancient times, when England was at war with Scotland. The area now known as Castlefields was a fruit orchard, and the Scots were rumoured to have burnt this orchard while attempting to capture Prudhoe Castle. The castle, originally owned by the D'Umfravilles, then the Percys and now English Heritage, is considered to be the only medieval fortification in Northumberland never to have been captured by the Scots.In the 18th century, a small hamlet of farms was built in the Prudhoe area and, by the 1800s, a coal mine had been established at West Wylam. At that point, South Road was the main street, with a church and a row of cottages – similar to how it looks today.
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