The Northumberland Coast has unique characteristics which define its outstanding natural beauty, and these ‘special qualities’ are the reason for this National Landscape's protected status
The most northerly National Landscape in England, the Northumberland Coast was designated in 1958. The landscape covers an area of 138 square kilometres, and it is rarely wider than 2.5 kilometres. Yet this stretch of English countryside contains a tremendous variety of features which have natural, historical and cultural value.
The work we do to protect and regenerate the area for all to enjoy focusses on its special qualities. These are: the landscape and seascape; nature; perceptual qualities; ecclesiastical; castles and defence; farming and fishing; settlements and people; trade and transport.
The Northumberland Coast is known for its varied and spectacular landscape, with dramatic cliffs, long sandy beaches and hidden coves, rocky outcrops and rolling farmland. Shaped by geology, climate, and human activity, the landscape and seascape are ever-changing.
The Northumberland Coast’s changing landscape reflects the complex nature of the geodiversity that underlies it, from dunes backing sandy bays and offshore islands to inland views and the open coastal plain.
The Whin Sill, a rocky outcrop of mineral-rich igneous rock and its associated soils is one of the most distinctive features of the landscape. The east facing, dipping slopes combined with the hardness of the rock produce shallow, lime rich and drought prone soils.
Sand dunes are dynamic features, constantly moving with the power of the wind, sea and tides.
The landscape provides an important habitat for nature. Sweeping sandy bays backed by flower-rich dune systems and miles of intertidal mud support thousands of plants and animals to live in this National Landscape.
The Northumberland Coast is a haven for migrating birds, with seabirds recolonising offshore islands and whinstone cliffs every spring. In the summer months, Little Tern, Ringed Plover and Arctic Tern nest on the coast to lay eggs and rear chicks. Meanwhile in the winter this landscape is home to waders like Sanderling, Curlew, and other birds who need food and shelter.
You’ll also spot invertebrates such as the Coastal Stiletto Fly, Common Blue Damselfly and Nettletap Moth.
Northumberland has a rich marine ecosystem that is protected through numerous international and national nature conservation designations. The tidal sand and mud flats at Lindisfarne, Budle Bay and to the north of Holy Island form the greatest expanse of intertidal flats in the region.
The dune systems, meadows, saltmarshes and grasslands found on whinstone outcrops are all home to an amazing array of plants like Sea Plantain and Pyramidal Orchid. From spring through to late summer these habitats are a glorious blaze of colour.
The vast open landscape offers wildness, tranquillity and a sense of space and peace. How we perceive the Northumberland Coast is unique to each person, and this outlines the power and poignancy of its natural beauty. The seascape is dramatic, exposed and rugged, with thrashing waves and calming splashes. Its ruralness symbolises both isolation and activity, with these contrasting features also varying from season to season.
The Northumberland Coast National Landscape has some of the clearest skies in the country. With the sea stretching along the east, this means that even in towns and settlements it is still possible to appreciate the darkness of the skies here. The area is one of the best locations in England for a chance of seeing the fabulous Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.
The best places to star gaze are away from any light pollution. streetlighting is limited in the National Landscape, so it is easy to find beautifully dark spots along the coast such as the small pull-in car parks at Cocklawburn, the stretch between Seahouses and Bamburgh or at Goswick.
The National Landscape has one designated Dark Sky Site at Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve. We have awarded this status in recognition of its excellent dark sky quality and low levels of light pollution.
The Northumberland Coast has offered space for contemplation, solitude and prayer since the 7th century. The small islands and peninsulas in this landscape provided ideal locations for the austere ecclesiastical life of the time.
Early Christian communities were established at Ebb’s Nook, Beadnell, Church Hill, Alnmouth, and on Holy Island (or Lindisfarne), where the remains of the 12th century Lindisfarne Priory still stand.
Lindisfarne is regarded as the ‘cradle of Christianity’ as the earliest and best-known foundation of this religion. Oswald’s accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Northumbria in 634 brought the arrival of St Aidan from Iona and the conversion to Christianity of the region. Oswald gifted Lindisfarne to St Aidan to establish his small Christian community.
Other sites established during the early Christian period are the small monastery founded by St. Ebba on the promontory at Beadnell known as Ebba’s Nook and Church Hill in Alnmouth, which is the possible location of the Synod of ‘Twyford’ in 684 that elected Cuthbert the Bishop of Lindisfarne. Parish churches, many with early origins, still stand at the heart of most of the settlements in the landscape. Elements of St Aidan’s Church in Bamburgh date from the 12th century and inside, a preserved wooden beam above the belfry is said to be the buttress that St Aidan died leaning against. St Lawrence’s in Warkworth is a beautiful Norman church with early Anglo-Saxon foundations.
Keeping the peace on the Northumberland Coast has always been a challenge, from the Viking raid of Holy Island in 793 through to the Norman invasion and onwards.
Disputes between England and Scotland in the 14th century lasted for nearly 300 years, with strategically important castles constructed at Bamburgh, Warkworth and Dunstanburgh and town defences built at Berwick. A fort constructed on Holy Island in 1570-72 formed the basis for Lindisfarne Castle.
The 20th century conflicts also left their mark, with World War Two concrete defences scattered along the sandy beaches and Cold War structures at sites such as Newton Point.
The National Landscape is a living, working landscape with 70% of the land being farmed. This protected landscape comprises small, mixed and larger agricultural farms. These farms provide a rich mosaic of habitats for a wide variety of wildlife, including wintering waders and wildfowl, Brown Hare, Barn Owl, frogs, toads and dragonflies.
Without farmers, who farm the land, maintain the fields and habitats, and contribute to the local economy and visual fabric of the area, the future and the landscape could look quite different.
The Defra-funded programme Farming in Protected Landscapes (running from 2021-2025) has meant we’ve been able to support farmers with undertaking unique projects around themes of climate, nature, people and place
The sea has always been central to how people have lived and worked in the landscape, with records showing industrial scale fishing operations around Holy Island controlled by the religious community there. Harbours at Craster, Beadnell and Seahouses are still active while now dominated by leisure as opposed to the once thriving fishing industry. The coble, a local fishing boat, with a distinctive flat bottom enabled fishing out from shallow bays such as Boulmer, Embleton and Newton.
Today, fishing continues to be part of the local economy, with boats heading out from Amber, Craster, Beadnell, Seahouses and Holy Island.
This landscape has been shaped by people for millennia. From the earliest evidence of activity 10,000 years ago to today’s fishing, farming and tourist villages, those living and working in the landscape have shaped the landscape we see today.
The sea has always been the dominant force, used for resources and influencing livelihoods, buildings, and the traditions of those who have called this area home.
Evidence of this interaction between people and landscape can be seen in the field patterns, settlement sites, routeways and buildings, but also found in stories, art and music.
Paths, tracks and roads crisscross the landscape. Many are the telltale remains of ancient routeways and historic links between the places where people lived, worked, traded, and sometimes secretly moved smuggled goods.
The sea has always been central to trade and travel in this landscape. Harbours dotted along the coastline allowed the safe import and export of goods produced in the area, as well as havens for fishing boats. Nowadays, they’re a space for leisure crafts using the water.
Surviving historic buildings are testament to earlier industry and trade. Large lime kilns at Beadnell, Seahouses and on Holy Island are lasting reminders of trade in stone and lime for building and agriculture. Meanwhile, granaries at Fenham and Alnmouth indicate past agricultural work.
Today, there are four main south-north routes through the landscape: the A1 for buses and cars, the East Coast Main Line offering stunning views for rail passengers, and the Northumberland Coast Path and the NCN1 North Sea Cycle route for those who prefer a more active, green travel option.
(Photography by Dru Dodd)
Find out more about Defra programme, Farming in Protected Landscapes.
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The Conservation Team is a volunteer initiative carrying out vital tasks.
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