Rothbury

Rothbury town centre

Looking east along Town Foot

Rothbury is a town in Northumberland, England beside the River Coquet. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,107.

Rothbury was an important town in the middle ages. In 1291, Rothbury was made a market town and became a centre for trade in cattle and wool for the surrounding villages. In the Victorian era Rothbury developed due to two reasons. The first is that is was connected to the railway. The second reason was that the industrialist Sir William Armstrong lived in the town, building his country house Cragside just outside Rothbury between 1862 and 1865. The house and its gardens are now owned by the National Trust and are open to the public, attracting many visitors to the area.