| About Alston Moor |
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Alston and its neighbouring villages of Nenthead and Garrigill remain largely untouched and even in the busy summer months, provide a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of some of their often over-crowded neighbours. At over 1,000 ft, Alston is reputed to be Britain’s highest market town and is noted for its delightful cobbled main street and its Market Cross in the centre of the town. Most of the buildings surrounding the Market Place date from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Because the town has changed so little, it was the perfect setting to film Alan Bleasdale’s 1999 ITV adaptation of Oliver Twist, which saw the town centre transformed into the fishing village of Bruntmarsh with a large proportion of the residents enrolled as extras. A town trail, 'Oliver Twist's Alston' starts at the top of town and a gentle stroll around Alston's many back streets and hidden lanes will reveal many fascinating sights and places of interest.
There has been a church in Alston town since the mid 12th century, although this eventually became a ruin and was pulled down and a new one built in 1769. This also suffered a similar fate as its predecessor and resulted in the present St Augustine's Church being built in 1869. Don’t miss the one-handed 16th century clock inside, which belonged to the Earl of Derwentwater, whose home was Dilston Hall. The church bell, cast in 1714, also came from the Earl. The bell was recast in 1845, and is now one of a peel of ten bells. A stone scoup and a few decorated stones in the church porch are all that remain of the original church.
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Alston Moor a region designated as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ nestles in the beautiful South Tyne Valley in the foothills of the North Pennines. It sits at the crossroads of five historic trans-Pennine routes, all of which wind their way through some of Britain’s most stunning and unspoilt countryside. As four of these routes reach 2,000 feet, prepare yourself for some of the most spectacular panoramic views of the North Pennines and Eden Valley, with the Lake District in the distance and Cross Fell, the highest point on the backbone of England, towering above.
Alston Moor and the surrounding fells have been mined for silver, lead, coal and anthracite since Roman times. In the early 1700’s, there were an incredible 119 working mines and Alston Moor grew rapidly in size to accommodate the ever increasing number of workers. Other forms of employment were provided by farming, a brewery, a candle house and a worsted mill. As mining died out in the middle 1800's, Alston's population decreased significantly. The population census figures show that at its peak during 1831 the population of the parish was 6,858 people. Today that figure is about 2,100.