Pen Bal

Pen Bal Penbal is an independent North East history, heritage and culture website. Messis Ab Altis

We feature stories, art, photography, historic maps, literature, archaeology and local viewpoints from across Tyneside, Northumberland and Durham. Pen Bal Crag is a windswept headland on the North East coast of England, on which stands Tynemouth Castle & Priory and where lies the graves of three ancient British kings. Legends abound recalling centuries of history from the original Iron Age settlem

ent and Celtic name, meaning Strong Rock Head, through Roman times, Saxon rule and the establishment of a Benedictine monastery that withheld Viking attacks, to the dissolution of the monasteries and subsequent rise of the Tyne as a global maritime and industrial port. Through these eras, Pen Bal Crag has served as an impregnable fortress and beacon safeguarding coast and country.

08/09/2026
The Tale of a Viking Ship Buried at Boldon: penbal.uk/the-tale-of-a-viking-ship-buried-at-boldon/
05/09/2026

The Tale of a Viking Ship Buried at Boldon: penbal.uk/the-tale-of-a-viking-ship-buried-at-boldon/

On Christmas Day in 1806, a violent storm tore through the North East and changed the landscape of Alnmouth forever. In ...
04/09/2026

On Christmas Day in 1806, a violent storm tore through the North East and changed the landscape of Alnmouth forever. In a matter of hours, the River Aln broke through to the sea, cutting off Church Hill and causing the instant demise of one of Northumberland’s busiest ports: penbal.uk/the-christmas-storm-that-moved-a-river-alnmouth-1806/

PenBal Special: Transcript of Talk at South Shields Museum penbal.uk/caer-urfa-a-closer-look-at-anglo-saxon-south-shield...
02/09/2026

PenBal Special: Transcript of Talk at South Shields Museum penbal.uk/caer-urfa-a-closer-look-at-anglo-saxon-south-shields/

Luan explores the Early Medieval context of South Shields Roman Fort alongside the politics and figures that shaped the region in this turbulent and fascinating period. In addition, he examines the meanings of the site’s two ancient names: ‘Arbeia’ and ‘Caer Urfa’, names which continue to puzzle historians today.

This 1841 watercolour by Thomas Miles Richardson Jnr is estimated to fetch £120-£180 at auction in September at Tennants...
31/08/2026

This 1841 watercolour by Thomas Miles Richardson Jnr is estimated to fetch £120-£180 at auction in September at Tennants Auctioneers (Lot 117).

‘Tynemouth Headland - Showing the Old Wooden Lighthouse, Tynemouth Priory and the Spanish Battery Building, King Edward's Bay below left’

Placenames are rarely meaningless. They are scraps of an older landscape: words left behind by farmers, fishermen, sailo...
30/08/2026

Placenames are rarely meaningless. They are scraps of an older landscape: words left behind by farmers, fishermen, sailors and generations of people who knew every rock, hill, field and hollow. If you take a walk north from Craster towards Dunstanburgh you are effectively walking through a fossilised Northumbrian vocabulary. penbal.uk/the-lost-language-of-the-craster-coast/

On this day in 1640 ⚔️
28/08/2026

On this day in 1640 ⚔️

25/08/2026

1636 wrecks charted between Flamborough Head and the Forth — torpedoed colliers, lost trawlers and vessels still unidentified.

Collingwood was one of Britain’s greatest naval commanders. He was also a close friend of Nelson and is often overlooked...
25/08/2026

Collingwood was one of Britain’s greatest naval commanders. He was also a close friend of Nelson and is often overlooked as a hero of Trafalgar: penbal.uk/the-geordie-admiral-forgotten-hero-of-trafalgar/

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