Work on the Cobbles starts Monday and runs to autumn 2027. Market Place parking is suspended from October 2026 to January 2028. What changes, and when.

Work to relay the Cobbles on Bondgate Within, Alnwick’s main town-centre parking area, starts on Monday 28 September. The council expects the £2.6m job to take until autumn 2027.

The Cobbles are only the first of three projects. The bigger change for drivers comes next month: parking on Alnwick Market Place will be suspended from October 2026 to January 2028 while Northumberland Hall is rebuilt as the new home of Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery. That detail is in the council’s own frequently asked questions, not in its press release.

What is being done to the Cobbles

The Cobbles were last improved in the 1980s and have “gradually fallen into a poor state of repair”, the council says. The area includes listed features, among them the Pant water features (Northumberland County Council).

The scheme includes:

  • new paving and sett surfacing, with resurfaced road and footpaths
  • a formalised car parking layout
  • crossing improvements
  • new green space, planting and rain gardens
  • new street furniture

The council says the materials will look and feel like the recent scheme on Narrowgate. Its project page lists the aims as enhancing the historic setting, formalising car parking and improving accessibility. The county council is funding the Cobbles itself and its own highways team is the contractor.

How the work will run

The council’s letter to businesses on the street, dated 22 September, sets out the programme (works notice, PDF). It says the work will take 11 months, depending on weather. That includes a four-week winter shutdown.

  • Where it starts: the eastern end of Bondgate Within, at the Hotspur Tower, working towards Clayport Street.
  • First phase: the footpath and kerb line outside the businesses.
  • Parking: some bays will be suspended as each section is worked on. The rest of the Cobbles stays open for parking.
  • Site compound: a fenced area inside the Cobbles, with a welfare and storage container and small plant kept there overnight.
  • Christmas: no highways work from 7 December 2026 to 4 January 2027.
  • Access: every shop and business stays reachable, with temporary ramps or kerb hoppers for wheelchairs and pushchairs where needed.

The other two projects

Timeline of the Alnwick town centre works: Cobbles works start 28 September 2026; drop-in at the Lindisfarne Centre 30 September; Market Place parking suspended and bus station phase one starting in October 2026; Christmas standstill 7 December 2026 to 4 January 2027; bus station phase one due to finish summer 2027; bus station phase two summer to winter 2027; Cobbles due to finish autumn 2027; Market Place parking back January 2028.
Graphic by The Northumberland Post. Source: Northumberland County Council project pages, FAQs and works notice, September 2026.
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Bus station, phase one. Safety and accessibility work on the forecourt starts in October 2026 and should finish in summer 2027. It is paid for by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (project page).

Bus station, phase two. A refresh of the building itself, from summer to winter 2027, funded through the Borderlands Place Programme (project page).

Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery at Northumberland Hall. Building work is due to start this autumn. The museum stays open at its current home on Bailiffgate in the meantime (project page). This is the project that takes the Market Place parking out of use.

The wider programme is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and the county council.

What it means for you

  • If you park on the Cobbles, expect fewer bays from Monday, starting at the Hotspur Tower end. The bays there are two hours or less and need a disc.
  • From October, Market Place parking goes for about 15 months. The council says all its other car parks are unaffected. The all-day, disc-free options in Alnwick are Dispensary Street, Greenwell Road B, C and E, Pottergate New Row and Roxburgh Place (Alnwick car parks). Our Northumberland parking guide explains the £1 disc.
  • The markets carry on, though the council says arrangements “may change as works progress”.
  • The Christmas lights switch-on is going ahead, with a tree, though the council warns the format may change because of where the works are. Our switch-on round-up will carry Alnwick’s date once it is announced.
  • Ask questions in person at a drop-in at the Lindisfarne Centre on Wednesday 30 September, 6pm to 8pm. Or email AlnwickTCI@northumberland.gov.uk, or call 0345 600 6400 quoting reference CA230005.

For other closures across the county this week, see our Northumberland roadworks page.

Sources