Hexham, the market town that’s one of Britain’s ‘happiest places to live’

High on the south bank of the River Tyne, surrounded by rich, agricultural land and with views to the line of Hadrian’s Wall, lies Hexham. Although sometimes overlooked in favour of its more chichi neighbour, Corbridge, it is a place with down-to-earth charm.

The town developed around its Augustinian priory and became an important trading hub; today there is still a weekly market, while Hexham Abbey (as the priory church later became known) hosts a stream of events, including a film club, recitals and music festivals.

Hexham is also the location of England’s oldest known purpose-built gaol (built in 1333 and now a small museum informing about its gruesome past), a spread of independent shops and cafes, a plethora of pubs and one of the country’s most scenic racecourses, 600 feet (183 metres) above the town.

Now is the perfect time to visit, before Hadrian’s Wall reaches peak summer busy-ness, and, you can watch archaeologists undertaking their annual work at Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort (until 25 September). Plus, Hexham is regularly named one of Britain’s happiest places to live (according to Rightmove) so you can expect a friendly welcome. Find out more at visithexham.com.

Quick guide

• Nearest station: Hexham, a mile south of the A69, is on the train line between Newcastle and Carlisle, both of which are stops on major north-south rail routes.
• Transport: The town is easily walkable but to explore further afield you’ll either need a car or to use local bus services; the AD122 links Hexham with several places on Hadrian’s Wall.
• Stay: Victorian hotel The Beaumont has elegant rooms and a popular restaurant. Slaley Hall has a spa, pool and two golf courses.
• Eat: The Beaumont, Bouchon Bistrot
• Drink: The Forum, The Heart of Northumberland, Rat Inn
• Shop: Farmers’ Market, Mr Wolf, Penfax, Twenty First Century Herbs, The Sweetie Jar, Cogito Books
• Visit: Hexham Abbey, Hadrian‘s Wall, Chesters Roman Fort, Vindolanda, Tyne Green Country Park, Housesteads Roman Fort
• More: visithexham.com

The best places to stay

Across the road from the abbey and The Sele, Hexham’s well-used central park, The Beaumont is a revamped Victorian hotel with elegant rooms. The open-plan ground-floor bar and restaurant is a popular meeting place for locals. Doubles from £115. One accessible room.

For a bit of pampering, head 20 minutes south of town to Slaley Hall. Surrounded by woodland and farmland, it has a spa, a pool and two golf courses. Its 141 spacious rooms are decorated in classic contemporary style, with generous bathrooms. Doubles from £148, B&B. Accessible rooms available.

The best places to shop

Catch the Farmers’ Market if you can (held on the second and fourth Saturday of the month), with produce from within a 50-mile radius. Then, head down Market Street to discover a wonderland of children’s toys at Mr Wolf, admire the stationery at Penfax and stock up on all things natural at Twenty First Century Herbs.

Nip across the Market Place for some indulgent nostalgia at The Sweetie Jar and take your time browsing the shelves at Cogito Books, with its friendly, knowledgeable staff.

The best things to see and do

Highpoints of the medieval-origin Abbey include its elegant arcading, the 13th-century “night stair”, a flight of well-worn stone steps used by canons to access the church from their dormitories (the latter now demolished), the ghoulish “Dance of Death” painted screen and the atmospheric Anglo-Saxon crypt – a remnant of the site’s original church.

Hadrian’s Wall offers rich pickings for the historically curious, as well as some fine walks and horizon-stretching views. The closest major Roman site to Hexham, less than six miles north, is Chesters Roman Fort, home to both the best-preserved cavalry fort in Britain and the country’s finest military bath house (adults from £10.90; children from £6.80; under-fives free).

At Vindolanda – about 10 miles west of Chesters – allow several hours to explore the village-size excavations and superb museum, where the wooden writing tablets are among the oldest surviving handwritten “letters” in Britain (adults £16; children £7.50; under-fives free).

Three places for an evening drink

Yes, The Forum is a Wetherspoons, but you are here for the decor, not the Thursday Curry Club. Set on the ground floor of a 1937 cinema (films are still screened upstairs), the interiors are full-throttle art deco, with geometric panelling, Egyptian-style columns and motifs, ornamental fretwork and polished woodwork.

The Heart of Northumberland, meanwhile, is a smartened-up traditional pub – with bold wallpapers, stripped-wood floors and wood-burning stove – serving several locally brewed beers.

And if you don’t mind a 10-minute drive, the Rat Inn, in tiny Anick, with its flagstone floors and chamber pots hanging from the rafters, offers warmth, character and terrace views – plus excellent food.

The best places for dinner

The Beaumont’s modern British menu features flavourful food dished up with a large dollop of verve. Starters such as steak tartare with barbecued mushroom, smoked emulsion and egg yolk, or cheddar and sun-dried tomato soufflé could be followed by pork belly with sesame and cashew dukkha, wild garlic risotto or a Josper-grilled steak (mains average £26).

For a taste of rustic French cooking, try Bouchon Bistrot, owned by a Frenchman and with a menu of classics such as duck confit with gratin dauphinois, moules marinières and tempting desserts including tarte tatin and crème brulée (mains average £21).

The best summer walks

From the waterside Tyne Green Country Park, follow the river upstream to the well-named Waters Meet – the point where the North and South Tyne rivers converge in a swirl of water. Turn back here or continue until you reach a junction with a cycle path and follow the railway-line-hugging cycle route back to town. In total the walk is about five miles.

For a more strenuous 7.5-miler, start at The Sill visitor’s centre (13 miles west, reachable by car or the AD122 bus) and head south and east, via Vindolanda, before turning north to the B6318.

Turn right for a short distance to a gate on the left and a track to Housesteads Roman Fort (before the main entrance) where you pick up the Hadrian’s Wall Path – an 84-mile coast-to-coast National Trail between Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria – and follow it west over the cliffs of the Great Whin Sill, turning left at a lane back to The Sill.

Three things you might not know about Hexham…

1) In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was one of Britain’s leading makers of leather gloves, known as “Hexham Tans”.

2) In September and October, if you stand on or near the nine-arched Hexham Bridge, you might spot salmon leaping up the weir on their journey upstream to their spawning grounds.

3) Pete Doherty, co-frontman of noughties indie band The Libertines and founder of rock group Babyshambles, was born in Hexham.