Traces of hut circles have been discovered on Heddon Common and Resting Hill, now obliterated by quarrying. This would indicate that the village was inhabited during this period, the late bronze age
266 - All of Italy fell under Roman control
102 - Julius Caesar was born
55 - Julius Caesar invaded Britain
1
1 - Population of the world reached 200
million (Compared with 6,100 million today)
43 - Romans conquered Britain up to the River
Humber
61 - Queen Bodicea's rebellion against the invading Romans
failed
81 - Romans completed the conquest of
Britain
102 - The building of
Hadrian's Wall commenced
105 - Chinese invented paper
410 - Roman Army withdrew from Britain
to defend Rome against the Barbarians
476 - Fall of the Roman Empire in the west
6 hundred
Circa 650 - Christians built a Saxon Chapel at
Heddon
653 - According to the Venerable Bede, Peada, Prince of the
Middle Angles, and Sigebert, King of the East Saxons, were baptised on
the site of Heddon Church by Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne. (The fact
that a royal prince has been baptised within the church entitles the choir
to wear red robes, something that otherwise would need the monarch's
permission)
680 - Some of the oldest parts of Saint Andrews Church were
built.
748 - Chinese printed the first newspaper
1070 - Normans introduced
the Feudal system
1086 - Domesday Book surveyed land and buildings in England for tax
purposes (It showed that 95% of people worked in
agriculture)
1096 - Beginning of the Crusades
1100 - 1135 - The manor of Heddon was bestowed by Henry I on
Hugh de Bolbec, becoming known as the Bolbec Barony
1165 - Hugh de Bolbec's grandson, Walter, founded a monastery at
Blanchland
12 hundred
1215 - Signing of the Magna
Carta
1274 - Heddon appeared in the Hundred Rolls as "Edwinstre"
(Suggesting that Heddon may have been one of the hill forts of King
Edwin)
1285 - Simon Rudchester built the original tower at Rudchester
1290 - Existing documents show Richard Turpin of Houghton had a law suit
with the Prior of Tynemouth regarding lands in the parish of Heddon
1296 - A list of the vicars of Saint Andrew's church, from this date,
is to be found in the church porch.
1328 - Scotland gained
independence
1335 - The Bolbec Barony was devolved between two surviving
heiresses, Margery and Phillipa
1346 - Phillipa's share passed through the family of her husband,
Roger of Lancaster, to William of Harle who died in 1346. His son, Robert,
gave the lands to the Abbey of Blanchland
1348 - The Black Death spread
to Britain, from Europe, killing one million people, 25% of the
population
1419 - The Rudchester estate passed to the Rutherford
family
15 hundred
1513 - Scottish invading army defeated
at the battle of Flodden
1534 - Henry VIII declared himself "Head of the English
Church"
1539 - Dissolution of the monastery at Blanchland, to which St. Andrew's
church belonged, passed the right of choice of vicars of Heddon to the Crown,
and subsequently to the Lord Chancellor
1545 - Martin Turpin of Whitchester killed John Rutherford
of Rudchester
1620 - The Close
House estate was sold by the Reades family to Robert Bewicke
1635 - The mining rights in Heddon were reserved to Ralph
Carr
1640 - Stagecoaches were introduced
1642 - Start of the English Civil War
1644 - The Scots army, which laid siege to Newcastle, stayed overnight
at Heddon on their way to Corbridge, to confront the English
cavalry
1653 - Oliver Cromwell became "Lord Protector of England"
1654 - Francis Carr (son and heir of Ralph Carr) sold the mining rights
of Heddon to Henry Widdrington of Black Heddon, who in turn sold them to
Hon. Charles Howard (Carlisles) of Naworth Castle
1656 - Parish records
from this date onward are in the custody of the County Records Office.
1665 - The Great Plague of London killed 100,000 people
1666 - The Great Fire of London ended the
plague
1678 - The parish Church donated one pound, two shillings and eleven
pence towards the building of St Paul's Cathedral.
1670's - The price of a burial stall in the
church was two shillings. An affidavit had to be sworn out that the shroud
was made of wool to help the wool trade
1671 - The first Parish books were kept, giving details of collections
and Churchwardens upto 1903
1704 - The bell of St
Andrews Church was recast, at a cost of £4-10-0.
1707 - Scotland joined Britain in the "United Kingdon of Great
Britain"
1716 - East Heddon was sold to Alderman Matthew White of Newcastle
and Blagdon
1717 - Inclosure (award of Common
Lands) divided the ownership of Heddon township between four people - The
Earl of Carlisle, Thomas Bigg, Julian Hindmarsh and the vicar of Heddon, the
Rev James Carmichael, (and his successors). The vicar received the Glebe
field (approx 13 acres)
1721 - Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister
1724 - Earliest Gravestone to be now found in the churchyard of
Saint Andrew's church.
1724 - Census of the parish put the population at 175 families
and 754 souls in the six
townships, of the parish (East Heddon, West Heddon, Houghton,
Close House, Whitchester and Eachwick)
1739 - John and Charles Wesley started the Methodist religious
revival
1745 - Jacobite Rebellion led to General Wade ordering the construction
of the Military Road
1748 - The Wylam
Waggon Way was constructed
1752 - General Wade constructed the Military Road. During construction
of the Military Road through Heddon on the Wall. Roman coins and medals, in
a decayed wooden box, were found in the ruins of the old wall at Heddon. Some
of the medals were in excellent condition, some were of silver, but most of
copper. The more interesting were purchased by the Royal Society.
The coins were from the reigns of Maximain and Constantine (A.D.
394), a period when the Roman Legions were withdrawing from Britain.
1754 - A parish census carried out by the then vicar, Mr Armstrong
showed that in Heddon village there were 175 families, with 754 people
1769 - James Watt invented an efficient steam engine
1769 - The sixth Earl of Carlisle sold his holdings in Heddon
to the Clayton family
1771 - The river Tyne flooded.
1775 - American War of Independence began
1781 - George Stephenson was born in Street House (location of Street
House)
1784 - A Heddon Colliery
was the first in the coal trade to start using mechanical means of "screening"
the coal to separate by size
1789 - French Revolution began
1796 - Heddon Square (Frenchman's
Row) cottages were built
1796 - The Sixth Earl of Carlisle sold his share of Heddon to Nathaniel
Clayton for the sum of £15,750
1799 - Income Tax was first imposed in Britain at a rate of two shillings
in the pound (20%) on incomes over £200
For dates after 1799, select the relevant period on the Timeline