ASHINGTON, urban district, Northumberland, England, 4 m. E. of Morpeth, on the Newbiggin branch of the L.N.E. railway. Population (1931) 29,418. The district, especially along the river Wansbeck, is not without beauty, but there are numerous collieries, mostly to the north-east of the town, from the existence of which springs the modern growth of Ashington. The population is almost entirely composed of miners, though some iron workers are also found. At Bothal on the river (from which parish that of Ashington was formed) is the castle belonging to the Bertram family in the reign of Edward III. The church of St. Andrew here has interesting details from Early English to Perpendicular date, and in the neighbouring woods is a ruined chapel of St. Mary.