Alnwick

Alnwick (pronounced "anick" [ˈænɪk]) is a small market town in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. It serves as the administrative centre for the Alnwick district, and had a population of 7,100 at the time of the 2001 census.

According to Country Life, October 2002, the "historic county town of Northumberland and seat of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick is the most picturesque market town in Northumberland, and the best place to live in Britain". The town is situated 30 miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, and 7 miles inland from the North Sea.

The town dates back to approximately 600AD, and over the centuries has thrived as an agricultural centre; as the location of Alnwick Castle and home of what were in medieval times the most powerful northern barons, the Earls of Northumberland; as a staging post on the Great North Road between Edinburgh and London, and latterly as a modern rural centre cum dormitory town. The fabric of the town centre has changed relatively little and still retains much of its original character; however there has been appreciable growth in size over the last ten years, with a number of housing estates covering what had been pasture, and new factory and trading estate developments along the roads to the south of the town.