Kilham, Northumberland

KilhamThe village of Kilham is situated in the Glendale in north Northumberland, on the northern edge of the Northumberland National Park.

The village lies on the south side of the river valley about 8km south of the border with Scotland near Coldstream, and about 10km northwest of the market town of Wooler.

Today Kilham comprises a small group of dwellings located to the southwest of the Bowmont Water, along a small track that joins the road running from Wooler (in the east) towards Kirk Yetholm (in the west).

To the south the village is overlooked by the northern limits of the Cheviot Hills and Kilham Hill, while to the north lie the less formidable heights of Housedon, Homilton and Wester Hills.

Kilham is first attested in documentary sources in 1177 in the form, 'Killum', which is usually thought to derive from the Old English 'cylnum' and signify the presence of kilns (Beckinsall 1992, 35).  It retains this form throughout the Medieval Period and as late as the 18th century.