WELCOME TO BYWELL PARISH COUNCIL

Bywell parish is situated in south-west Northumberland. The parish is largely triangular - the southern boundary is actually the Tyne – with Broomhaugh & Riding  Mill and Stocksfield parishes to the south. To the east are the parishes of Ovington and Horsley, to the north Matfen and Whittington, and Corbridge parish sits to the west and south. The north of Bywell parish is not far from the Military Road with easy access to Hadrian’s Wall. The Parish itself comprises about 140 households with some 300+ persons resident therein, largely in the village of Newton with the rest in Bywell itself at the south of the parish and other scattered hamlets.

Prior to the Norman conquest the village and surrounding lands were in the hands of the Saxon Earl of Northumberland. After 1066 it was in the hands of two Norman barons and remained in the Baliol family until 1296. The village passed through the ownership of various landed families and eventually to the Beaumont family in 1809, who to date remain the custodians of Bywell Hall and much of the surrounding land.

Bywell village benefits from two churches, one of which, St. Andrew's is substantially Saxon in date and is designated as a Grade 1 listed building. In addition to St Andrew’s and St Peter’s in Bywell there is a third church in Newton – St. James’. This church is now owned by the local private preparatory school but regular weekly services are held during term time at which the public are invited to worship.

The parish, like so many rural areas has a lack of services such as a school, shop or post office but does benefit from an inn, which is suggested to be one of the oldest in Northumberland, and a thriving village hall, in Newton, which is used for both community and public events.