One of Northumberland's major market towns and the administrative centre for the County Council. In the town, the Chantry combines a unique Bagpipe Museum with the Northumbrian Craft Centre. The River Wansbeck flows through the centre of the town and provides riverside walks linked to the attractive Carlisle Park. There is also a leisure centre and swimming pool, and a good range of shops, restaurants and hotels. The clock tower in the town centre is very unusual, being a rare example of a freestanding bell tower not connected to any other building, such as a church. It still sounds the night curfew at 8 o'clock every evening. The divisions on the clock are also unusual in that there are only four divisions between the hour numbers rather than five as on most clocks and watches. This was because when the clock was first built it only had one hand (the hour hand) and four divisions were thought to be more useful in indicating the quarter and half hours. Market day in the town is every Wednesday. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, Pharmacia, are major employers in the town as are Northumberland County Council at County Hall. There is an excellent local MorpethNet website.