Ashington is a town in Northumberland, England, with a population of around 28,000 people. The town was built up from being a small hamlet in the 1840s, as the Duke of Portland constructed housing to encourage workers escaping the potato famine to come and work at the local collieries he was founding. As in many other parts of Britain, "deep pit" coal mining in the area declined during the 1980s and 1990s leaving just one colliery, Ellington, still in production.
Jackie Milburn, Bobby Charlton and Jackie Charlton were all born in Ashington.
Ashington is also the name of a small southern town in West Sussex. In the Ashington village hall, a 'Hooky Mat' is on display. This mat was given as a gift by the mining workers of the Northumberland Ashington to their friends in Sussex.
See also List of towns in England.
