What is Northumberland?
[[File:Flag_of_Northumberland.svg|thumb|220px|right|[[Flag]] of Northumberland]] [[File:Arms of Northumberland County Council.svg|thumb|150px|[[Coat of arms]] of Northumberland]] [[File:Northumberland (ceremonial county) in England.svg|thumb|right|300px|{{Center|Map showing Northumberland (ceremonial county)}}]] '''Northumberland''' is the most northern county in [[England]]. [[Lindisfarne]] is an island close offshore. The county town is [[Morpeth]]. Its finest church is [[Hexham Abbey]]. Northumberland occupies a small part of the former [[Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom of [[Northumbria]]. == History == Northumberland is where [[Roman Britain|Roman]] occupiers once guarded a frontier at [[Hadrian's Wall]]. [[Anglian]] invaders fought with [[Celt]]ic natives. [[Normans|Norman]] lords built [[Castle|castles]] to suppress [[rebellion]] and defend a contested [[border]] with [[Scotland]]. The present-day county was once part of an independent Northern English [[kingdom]] that stretched from [[Edinburgh]] to the [[River Humber]]. Northumberland has more castles than any other county.<ref>Long B. 1967. ''Castles of Northumberland''. Newcastle: Harold Hill.</ref> It has greatest number of recognized [[battle]] sites. It was an [[Economics|economically]] important region that supplied much of the [[coal]] that powered the [[industrial revolution]]. Northumberland is now a [[Rural area|rural]] county with a small and gradually shrinking population.<ref>Dowson J. 2009. Northumberland's economy 2009. Northumberland Information Network [http://www.northumberlandinfonet.org.uk/EconomicAssessment/documents/NorthumberlandsEconomy2009ExecutiveSummary.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812071919/http://www.northumberlandinfonet.org.uk/EconomicAssessment/documents/NorthumberlandsEconomy2009ExecutiveSummary.pdf|date=2011-08-12}}</ref> The kingdom of [[Northumbria]] under Edwin (585–632) stretched from the [[Humber]] in the south to the [[Firth of Forth]] in the north. The kingdom and county were named for the [[