The historic regional centre of Hexham is close to the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site. Parts of the abbey date from 674 AD, and the castle of the Archbishop of York and purpose-built medieval gaol (possibly the earliest in Britain) made it an important ecclesiastical and administrative centre during the medieval period. It continues to be the administrative centre of Tynedale and one of the most important tourist centres in the North of England. Our full report on the very large conservation area identified a number of character sub-areas, and included several important open spaces.