Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the town of Hexham and the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of a 19th-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the 7th Premier of British Columbia, William Smithe. In 2001 it had a population of 495.
History Matfen is a few miles north of Hadrian's Wall. About halfway between the two there is a prehistoric standing stone called Stob Stone, adjacent to Standing Stone Farmhouse. The stone is about seven feet high and decorated with cup marks.Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northumberland, p. 387.
The place-name Matfen is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for 1159, where it appears as Matefen. The name means Matta's fen.Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p. 318. The civil parish was formed in 1955 from East Matfen, Fenwick, Ingoe, Kearsley, Ryal and West Matfen.
Landmarks
Matfen Hall now houses a hotel and country club. The Grade II* listed building was built about 1828 by Sir Edward Blackett to replace an earlier, 17th-century house.
The Devil's Causeway passes the village less than to the west. The causeway is a Roman road, which starts at Port Gate on Hadrian's Wall, north of Corbridge, and extends northwards across Northumberland to the mouth of the Tweed at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Notable people Thomas Bates (1775–1849), an eminent stockbreeder, was born in Matfen. William Smithe (1842–1887), the 7th premier of British Columbia, was born in Matfen. Lorna Hill (1902–1991), a writer of over 40 books for children, was the wife of the rector of Matfen.
References
External links
Tourist guide Matfen Parish Council