Tourist's guide to visit Heddon-on-the-Wall

Visit Heddon-on-the-Wall – things to do & explore

Overview of Heddon-on-the-Wall history & facts by Walkfo

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Planning a visit to Heddon-on-the-Wall?

Heddon-on-the-Wall is a village in Northumberland, England, located on Hadrian’s Wall. Heddon-on-the-Wall is roughly 9 miles (14 km) west of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, and just outside Throckley. The place-name ‘Heddon’ means ‘hill where heather grew’.

Heddon-on-the-Wall history

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A Roman milecastle (‘Milecastle 12’) was located at the site of the present-day village, under what is now Town Farm, but no traces of it are currently visible. Prior to the 1960s, Heddon-on-the-Wall was a small village with an economy based strongly on traditional industry including farming and coal mining. Large-scale coal mining close to the village began in the late 1950s with the opening of the Bays Leap, a 120 hectares (300 acres) opencast mine site located a short distance north of Heddon-on-the-Wall. The site supported seven coal seams at its peak, and evidence was found of earlier mine shafts. Bays Leap closed in 1966. Urban development west of Newcastle saw the village expand substantially during the 1960s. Heddon-on-the-Wall grew up around Hexham Road, which until 1973 was the main road from Newcastle to Hexham. The new A69 road bypasses Heddon-on-the-Wall en route from Newcastle to Carlisle, also passing Hexham. Heddon-on-the-Wall benefits from its proximity to the A69 but is more popular with retired people rather than commuters due to its lack of a railway station, from which its close neighbour Wylam benefits. A railway station on the Scotswood, Newburn & Wylam Railway was opened in the village in 1881, but closed in 1958. Heddon-on-the-Wall came to prominence when it was revealed in February 2001 that the 2001 outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease originated from a farm in the village. This severely affected Heddon-on-the-Wall’s primary industry which is agriculture. Over the years, however, other industries have existed in Heddon-on-the-Wall. These include salmon fishing in the River Tyne, coal mining, the quarrying of sandstone and limestone, and brick making. Wylam Brewery was established at South Houghton Farm in 2000 before moving to Newcastle in 2016. A number of blacksmiths were in the village until recent times. In the 1970s there was a perfumery-manufacturing business.

Heddon-on-the-Wall etymology

The place-name ‘ Heddon on the Wall’ is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for 1175, where it appears as Hedun. It appears as Heddun in 1262 and as Hedon super murum (‘Heddon above the wall’) in 1242. The name comes from the Old English hæth-dūn, meaning ‘hill where heather grew’. The name should not be confused with that of East Heddon and West Heddon, where the name means ‘Hidda’s pasture’.

You can visit Heddon-on-the-Wall, COUNTY/BOROUGH & use Walkfo to discover the best walking places with our free digital tour guide app created especially for Heddon-on-the-Wall. Walkfo Heddon-on-the-Wall has 300 locations with history, culture & travel facts, that you can explore the same way you can a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Heddon-on-the-Wall, being in the moment, without digital distraction and no limitations to a specific walking route – you choose where you want to go, when you want to go and Walkfo Heddon-on-the-Wall will keep up.

When you visit Heddon-on-the-Wall

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When you visit Heddon-on-the-Wall, Walkfo is your digital tour guide while exploring by foot, bike or bus. With numerous walks, hikes, tourist locations & travel destinations available in Heddon-on-the-Wall, our travel AI guide helps you get the best from your visit to Heddon-on-the-Wall & the surrounding areas. Our explore Heddon-on-the-Wall app for iPhone & Android, allows you to experience the hidden history, culture and amazing facts throughout Heddon-on-the-Wall whilst out walking. The digital tour guide creates interactive audio stories driven by where you walk, so you can exploration Heddon-on-the-Wall’s National Heritage sites, tourist attractions, historic locations or city streets freely, without the restrictions of a predefined walk & walk map.

“The Walkfo AI has curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 0 audio facts in Heddon-on-the-Wall alone that form an interactive Heddon-on-the-Wall walking map for you to explore.”

Best Heddon-on-the-Wall places to visit

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Heddon-on-the-Wall has hundreds of places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are five of Heddon-on-the-Wall’s best destinations to visit when exploring the area. We have condensed the information with much more detail available within Walkfo when you visit the destinations.

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Visit Heddon-on-the-Wall plaques

Experience Heddon-on-the-Wall audio walks & tours

Visiting Heddon-on-the-Wall with Walkfo’s things to do interactive map
The “Heddon-on-the-Wall things to do map” below is a preview of the places you can visit in Heddon-on-the-Wall and surrounding areas with our digital audio tour guide app. Each spot has content for a plaque, a building, a street or general area, providing history, culture or tourism information the you can explore.

Interactive ‘Explore Heddon-on-the-Wall Map’     This Heddon-on-the-Wall tourism map shows points of interest within a 4km radius of Heddon-on-the-Wall centre

Walkfo App     Walkfo

Walkfo is free to download & use (for a limited time period), so if you are looking to explore Heddon-on-the-Wall, go to your App Store to search for “Walkfo” or follow a links below and install on your mobile phone. Walkfo is designed for use with headphones or AirPods, so you can walk & explore whilst learning about the things around you without digital distraction.

  Apple App Store

  Google Play Store

Things to do & visit in Heddon-on-the-Wall and surrounding areas

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Getting to / around Heddon-on-the-Wall – transport links, stations, streets & traffic map

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Getting around in Heddon-on-the-Wall using public transportation may include roads, streets, trains, undergrounds, buses or trams. Walkfo has the following important Heddon-on-the-Wall public transport locations with historic / cultural / factual content when you visit:

Heddon-on-the-Wall Notable Public Transport Stations		Heddon-on-the-Wall Notable Streets & Roads

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Attention local Heddon-on-the-Wall historians, tour guides & Heddon-on-the-Wall tourism agents