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Hexham is a market town in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district in Northumberland from 1974-2009. Hexham is one of three major towns in Tynedale along with Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe is Tynedale's largest town. In 2001 Hexham had a population of 11,139.

There are many smaller towns and villages that surround Hexham, such as Corbridge, Riding Mill, Stocksfield, Wylam to the east, Acomb and Bellingham to the north, Allendale to the south and Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle to the west. The closest major city to Hexham is Newcastle upon Tyne which is about 25 miles (40 km) to the east.

Hexham Abbey originated as a monastery founded by Saint Wilfrid in 674. The crypt of the original monastery survives, and incorporates many stones taken from nearby Roman ruins, probably Coria or Hadrian's Wall. The current Hexham Abbey dates largely from the 11th century onward, but was significantly rebuilt in the 19th century. Other notable buildings in the town include the Moot Hall, the covered market, and the Old Gaol.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the murder of King Ælfwald by Sicga at Scythlecester (which may be modern Chesters) on 23 September 788:

This year Elwald, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by Siga, on the eleventh day before the calends of October; and a heavenly light was often seen on the spot where he was slain. He was buried in the church of Hexham.

The name of Hexham derives from the Old English Hagustaldes ea and later Hagustaldes ham whence the modern form (with the "-ham" element) derives. Hagustald is related to the Old High German hagustalt, denoting a younger son who takes land outside the settlement, the element ea means "stream" or "river" and ham is the Old English form of the Modern English "home" (as well as the Scots and Northern English "hame").

Like many towns in the North of England, Hexham suffered from the border wars with the Scots, including attacks from William Wallace who burnt the town in 1297. In 1312, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, demanded and received £2000 from the town and monastery in order for them to be spared a similar fate.

In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Hexham was fought somewhere to the south of the town; the actual site is disputed. The defeated Lancastrian commander Duke of Somerset was executed in Hexham market place. There is a legend that Queen Margaret of Anjou took refuge after the battle in what is known as The Queen's Cave where she was accosted by a robber; the legend forming the basis for an 18th century play by George Colman. Sadly, it has been established that Queen Margaret had fled to France by the time the battle took place!

St. Mary's Church, Hexham. Photo credit: Peter BrooksUntil 1572, Hexham was the administrative centre of the former Liberty or Peculiar of Hexhamshire.

In 1715 James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, raised the standard for James Francis Edward Stuart in Hexham Market place. The rising, however, was unsuccessful, and Derwentwater was captured and beheaded after the battle of Preston.

In 1761, the Hexham Riot took place in the Market Place when a crowd protesting about changes in the criteria for serving in the militia was fired upon by troops from North Yorkshire Militia. Fifty-one protesters were killed, earning the Militia the soubriquet of The Hexham Butchers.

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hexham was a centre of the leather trade, particularly renowned for making gloves known as Hexham Tans - now the name of a vegetarian restaurant in the town.

Hexham is dominated by Hexham Abbey. The current church largely dates from c.1170–1250, in the Early English Gothic style of architecture. The choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period. The east end was rebuilt in 1860. The Abbey stands at the west end of the market place, which is home to the Shambles a Grade II* covered market built in 1766 by Sir Walter Blackett.