The town of Amble, which is distant from Warkworth about a mile and a half, stands upon a terrace with a bow-shaped outline, and when seen from the north or north-west, especially if the estuary of the Coquet is filled with water at high or spring tides, has a more than ordinarily attractive appearance. The sky-line is broken by the public buildings and the belfries of church and chapel, while the eastern end of the town is occupied by the harbour with its lofty coal staithes and abundant shipping. The township contains the hamlets and homesteads of New-hall, Moor-house, the Hope, and Link-house, and comprises an area of 1,218 acres.  There is a place of the same name in Norway, and as a component part of a word it occurs in Ambleside in the county of Westmorland, in Ambleston near Milford Haven, and Amblecote in Staffordshire.      The prosperity of Amble and its existence as a seaport town depend exclusively upon an extensive export of coal obtained from the adjacent collieries at Radcliffe and Broomhill. To this trade is owing the rapid increase of the population, which in 1821 did not exceed 200, and in 1891 was 2,975.      Though no camps or earthworks have survived the action of the plough, a prehistoric burial ground exists on the links from which rich results have been obtained. In the operations required to lay bare the rock and to extend the quarry there, no less than forty graves have been unearthed and probably many still remain unopened. Though bones and urns are said to have been discovered at an earlier period, the first recorded find was in the month of April, 1857, when a gale of wind laid bare a long upright stone near the end of the pier, which had beside it a slab forming the covering of a cist constructed in the usual fashion of four slabs of sandstone set edgewise in a cavity dug out of the friable shale which over- lies the harder rock. The cist, which had a direction south-east by north-west, measured 1 foot 6½ inches in depth, 2 feet 2 inches in width, 4 feet in length at the bottom, and 3 feet 4 inches at the top. It contained a perfect skeleton, lying on its left side, having the knees drawn up and the right arm thrown back, with the head to the south-west ; the skull is said to have been very low in the frontal region, but with great development of the occipital portion and with the lower jaw of unusual width and length, the teeth were regular and sound, only one was missing ; the thigh bone measured 1 foot 7½ inches. The bottom of the cist was covered to the depth of about half an inch with dark unctuous mould. By the side of the skeleton stood a vessel of the `drinking cup' type, which measures 8 inches in height, 7¼ inches in depth, and 5½ inches in diameter ; it is ornamented in zig-zag scoring alternating with dotted lines and upright or slanting scorings continued over the edge of the rim.     But it was in 1883 that the quarry (which is situated half a mile south of the spot where the cist was found in 1857) yielded prolific results ; they have been described in papers read before the Society of Antiquaries of London by the Rev. William Greenwell :
It consisted of a cairn, made of cobble stones from the neighbouring sea-beach, placed upon a thin layer of vegetable mould with clayey soil beneath, overlying the rock. The cairn had been about 40 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. It was situated on the low bank there bounding the sea-beach, about 70 yards from its edge, and was entirely concealed under a deposit of blown sand, 9 feet thick, and therefore rising 4 feet above the top of the cairn.        Though when discovered it was but a short distance from the sea, it is evident that when first erected it must have been much further distant, so far indeed as to be beyond the limit of sand blown from the beach. That this must have been the case appears to be proved by the fact that, whereas when discovered the cairn was buried like the adjoining ground under many feet of sand, it had been, when first thrown up, placed upon the ordinary surface mould which had no sand upon it, and, therefore, must have been beyond the range to which sand blown from the seashore extended.     It had contained, so far as I could ascertain, about twenty cists of the usual kind and several deposits of burnt bones, an unusually large number of interments in one sepulchral mound. There were also seven vessels of pottery, one of which I found myself.
	I will now proceed to describe the cairn and its contents as I found it at the time of my visit, when, though the greater part had been destroyed during the  work of quarrying, a portion was still left undisturbed, and when some of the cists,  though they had been opened, had not been removed. What I think, must have been the central and primary interment had been contained in a cist sunk to a depth of 2 feet 4 inches through the surface soil, broken stone, locally called 'rab,' and solid rock. It had a direction west by south and east by north, and was 3 feet 7 inches long, 1 foot 11 inches wide, and 1 foot 10 inches deep, being formed of four side stones and a cover. The interment was of an unburnt body, the head of which had been placed at the east end. The bones were too much decayed to enable any further account of their position being given. In the cist were also a small bronze knife, now in the British Museum, and a 'food-vessel.' This, which has three perforated ears, is 3⅞ inches high, and 1 foot 4 inches in circumference at the widest part. It is covered over the whole surface, including the inside of the lip of the rim, with a herring-bone pattern. The knife, which has been much reduced in size by use and whetting, is 1⅜ inches long and 1⅛ inches wide, and has three rivets still remaining, by which it was attached to the handle. There was also in the cist a small piece of flint, now lost, but which, from the description given me by the man who found it, appeared to have been flaked into shape. Upon the cover of the cist, which was found broken through the middle, was a deposit of burnt bones overlaid at a height of 6 inches by a slab of sandstone larger than the cover stone of the cist, and placed at the level of the original surface. Just beyond the east end of this cist was a small and rather irregularly shaped one, having one side about 1 foot 4 inches long, the other being about 1 foot ; the two ends were closed each by a single stone. It was covered by cobble stones, and contained the much decayed bones of a child. Three feet to the south-west of the first cist, and 1 foot 3 inches above the original surface of the ground, was a deposit of burnt bones, those of an adult, laid in a round heap, about 10 inches in diameter. Six feet south-south-west from the same cist was a smaller one, lying east and west, 2 feet long, 1 foot 2 inches wide, and 1 foot deep. It was made of four side stones and a cover, and was placed on the top of the broken rock underlying the surface soil. There were, when I saw it, some burnt bones lying about it, evidently  not in their original place of deposit, from which I am inclined to believe it had contained a burial after cremation. I could, however, obtain no distinct account from the workmen, except that there was a 'pot' in it. This vessel, which has been given to the British Museum, is 5⅜ inches high, 4⅜ inches wide at the top, and 3¼ inches at the bottom. It is coarsely made, and in shape is something like a cinerary urn. On the inside of the lip of the rim is a band of diagonal lines, and on the upper part of the vessel, for a space of 2½ inches, a herring-bone pattern of five rows, the remaining part of the vessel being plain. All the lines have been made by a sharp-pointed instrument.
To the east of the cist just described had been two others, both destroyed before my visit, but which the workmen told me were similar in form and construction to those still remaining, and each containing a 'pot.' These, now in the possession of Mr. G. H. Thompson of Alnwick, are 'food-vessels.' One, which is rather roughly made, is 1 foot 3⅞ inches high, 15¾ inches in circumference at the widest part, and is ornamented on the upper part with a band of vertical lines, between one band above and two beneath of inclining lines; the lower part has lines irregularly crossing each other and forming no definite pattern. The other, which is better made and ornamented, is 4¾ inches high and 1 foot 6 inches in circumference at the widest part. The upper part has nine lines encircling it, beneath which are three bands of vertical lines, the middle one being placed between three encircling lines above and three beneath. All the lines are made by impressions of twisted thong. 'Thirteen feet south-south-west from the cist first described was one, the bottom of which was at the same level as the cover of the first. It had a direction west by north and east by south, and was 2 feet 6 inches long, 1 foot 3 inches wide, and the same deep. The workmen had no recollection of any bones, but there was a 'pot' in it. Six feet north of the first cist, and 1 foot 6 inches higher than the stone which covered the deposit of burnt bones lying on the cist cover, was a 'food-vessel,' now in the British Museum, which almost touched the south-east corner of another cist, the bottom of which was formed by the surface soil. It was north-east and south-west, 3 feet 10 inches long, 1 foot 8 inches wide, and 1 foot 10 inches deep, being made of four side stones and a cover, and having the joints filled in with clay. It contained the much decayed bones of an adult, of which sufficient remained to show that the body had been laid on the left side with the head to the east. On the bottom of the cist was some charcoal, an invariable accompaniment of an interment by inhumation. Close by the 'food-vessel' were some teeth just traceable, and a little further away were remains of bones in the same decayed condition, all indicative of the interment of an unburnt body, with which the vessel had almost certainly been associated. It is 5½, inches high, 4¾ inches wide at the top, and 2½ inches wide at the bottom. The inside of the lip has a herring-bone pattern upon it. The outside has a hand of diagonal lines with four encircling lines beneath; then follows, for a space of 3 inches, a herring-bone pattern, having beneath three encircling lines; the remaining space of inch is plain. All the lines have been made by a sharp-pointed tool.
Bronze Knife	Cist Vessel
The above-mentioned graves were placed on the clay or natural rock, but another grave which had a direction north and south had the bottom formed of flat stones ; it measured 4 feet in length, 2 feet in height, and 2 feet 6 inches in breadth. Embedded in the sand, which had drifted into it, was an urn standing at the north end, but in an inverted position ; it measures 6 inches in height, 1 foot 8 inches in circumference, and 5 inches in diameter inside the mouth ; the lip, which is ¾ inch broad, has a single cable twist line in the middle ; the neck has a zig-zag ornamentation, but the lower portion of the cup is perfectly plain and glossy, having apparently been smoothed over with some hard instrument. No large, but some small pieces of bone were found.     Ten years later, in an extension of the quarry about 60 yards distant from the site of those above described, there was found a cist 4 feet 6 inches long and 2 feet 6 inches broad, in which there were portions of the leg bones of its former occupant, and an urn of tasteful design but rude workmanship, measuring 7¼ inches in height and 5¼ inches across the mouth. About the same period there was found another urn broken and destroyed in taking it from the grave, a portion of a brachycephalic skull, and a flint flake, probably a knife, which measures 3¾ inches in length by 1⅝  inches in breath.
Originally a member of the great Vesci barony, Amble was one of the manors with which Robert de Mowbray endowed the priory of Tynemouth when it was refounded and affiliated to the Benedictine abbey of St. Alban's in 1090. In the apportionment of estates made in the time of abbot Richard de Albini (died 1119) it was agreed that the abbot and his successors should retain Amble and Coquet Island, with the churches of Woodhorn and Bywell, and also a pension of 30s. a year out of the church of Tynemouth, but that no further demand should be made upon the priory.      Amongst the many estates mentioned in the recitals in the charter of confirmation granted on the 28th of December, 1189, by Richard I., before setting out for the Holy Land on the third crusade, were Ambell and Hauekeslowe, but this charter having been lost or mislaid, and an infraction of the rights given by it having been made during the king's captivity in Austria, it was renewed at the Chateau Gaillard near Les Andelys in Normandy on the 13th of November, 1198.      At the beginning of the thirteenth century an agreement was made between Robert fitz Roger, lord of Warkworth (died 1214), and Ralph de Gubion the prior (circa 1209-1223), and the convent of Tynemouth to regulate the service due from the tenants of Amble and Hauxley of grinding their corn at the manorial mills of Warkworth. The produce of the demesne (which comprised three plough lands) in Amble was to be exempt, but all the tenants were to pay multure, and on the other hand, Robert fitz Roger bound himself and his successors to find the convent with timber for three ploughs and three harrows, to supply seven loads of firewood from the woods of Warkworth, and to pay 40s. a year to the prior.       On the 13th of November, 1280, an enquiry was ordered concerning the seizure at Amble of the ship of Stephen of .        In the taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1292, the prior and convent held in Anebell two carucates of land worth (after deducting an annual expenditure of 21s.) 42s., rents paid in money, 46s. 7d., a rent-charge arising in Warkworth, 40s., and a similar payment from Hauxley of 45s. 10d. ; they also received from Amble 42 quarters of malt or barley, worth at 2s. 6d. a quarter, £5 5s.  Shortly afterward the abbot of St. Alban's and the prior of Tynemouth were required to prove their rights as against the king to sea wreck and free warren in Amble and Hauxley, and the amercements of the tenants there ; they entered an appearance before the king's justices at Newcastle, on the 18th of June (?) 1293.      In 1295 the demesne lands in Amble were found to comprise 44½  acres in the South-flat, 30 acres in the East-flat, 15½ acres in the West-flat, 7 acres in the Crooks, 16 acres in the flats at the Hope, 30 acres in Gonuldes Cross, and 23 acres in Dolakelawe, 2½ roods in the Syket-meadow at the North side Hope, 3 roods in the Syket-meadow under Gonuldes Cross, 6 acres in the West-mede at Blaklawe, 1½ acres in the East-mede, and 20 acres in the Strother. There were eighteen tenants who asserted that they were freeholders (tenantes per se ut dicunt libere), and there were also twenty-two bond tenants who amongst them held 465 acres of land.

 These names and quantities may be compared with the contemporary list of

persons who were rated to and paid the following subsidy :

PATTERSON OF AMBLE

Also see Amble and District

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