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CorbridgeCorbridge is a town in Northumberland, England, situated 25 km (16 miles) west of Newcastle and 6 km (4 miles) east of Hexham. It has a population of approximately 3,500. Long thought to have been known to the Romans as Corstopitum (wooden writing tablets found at Vindolanda suggest it was probably called Coria), it was the most northerly town in the Roman Empire, lying at the junction of Stanegate and Dere Street. The first fort was established c. AD 85, although there was a slightly earlier base nearby at Beaufront Red House. By the middle of the 2nd century AD, the fort was replaced by a town with two walled military compounds, which were garrisoned until the end of the Roman occupation of the site. The best-known finds from the site include the stone Corbridge Lion and the Corbridge Hoard of armour and sundry other items. The Anglican church of St Andrews is thought to have been consecrated in 676. St Wilfrid is supposed to have built the church at the same time as Hexham Abbey was constructed. It has changed several times throughout the centuries, with a Norman doorway still in evidence, as well as a lych gate constructed in memory of the soldiers killed in the First World War. There are only three fortified vicarages in the county, and one of these is in Corbridge. Built in the 14th century, the Vicar's Pele is to be found in the southeast corner of the churchyard, and has walls 1.3 m (4 feet) in thickness. The register for St Andrews dates from 1657. Later on in the town's ecclesiastical history, Wesleyan, Primitive and Free Methodist chapels were all built too. Corbridge suffered, as did many other settlements in the county, from the border warfare which was particularly prevalent between 1300 and 1700. Raids were commonplace, and it was not unusual for the livestock to be brought into the town at night and a watch placed to guard either end of the street for marauders. A bridge over the Tyne was built in the 13th century, but this original has not survived. The present bridge, an impressive stone structure with seven arches, was erected in 1674. Stagshaw Bank Fair, traditionally held on 4 July, was one of the most famous of the country fairs. It included a huge sale of stock, and was proclaimed each year by the bailiff to the Duke of Northumberland. Today the Northumberland County Show, an agricultural event, is held in the fields outside Corbridge each year, a very popular rural event, drawing people from all over Northumberland as well as further afield. External links
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