Old Map of Northumberland in 1611 by John Speed - Newcastle, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed

This 1611 map of Northumberland was drawn by John Speed and engraved by the Amsterdam engraver Jodocus Hondius for Speed's landmark atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. It shows England's northernmost county at a time when the border with Scotland still shaped daily life here, with Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead marked along the River Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed sitting right on the border itself.

Further north, Alnwick appears near its long-standing castle, while Warkworth and Bamburgh mark two more of the county's historic strongholds along the coast. Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans some fifteen centuries before Speed drew this map, still runs across the width of the county, a reminder of just how long people have been marking and defending this frontier landscape. Morpeth and Hexham anchor the inland market towns, while South Shields and the wider area now known as Tyne and Wear sit at the mouth of the Tyne, where the river meets the North Sea.

This map of Northumberland makes a striking addition to a study, hallway or living room, particularly for anyone with family roots in the northeast of England. It's a fitting birthday gift, a retirement present for someone who spent their working life around Newcastle or Gateshead, an anniversary gift for a couple who walked Hadrian's Wall together, a wedding gift for a couple settling near the Tyne, or a housewarming gift for a new home anywhere between the Tyne and the Scottish border. It brings centuries of border history into a single, distinctive piece of wall art.