The village is about 20 miles (32 km) north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne, near Bolam West Houses.

[1] On 1 April 1955 the parish was abolished and merged with Belsay.

[2] The Church of England parish church of St Andrew has a late Saxon west tower and is a Grade I listed building.

[3] Shortflatt Tower, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the village, is a late 15th or early 16th century pele tower, with a 17th-century house attached, and is also Grade I listed.

[4] Bolam is the burial place of Robert de Reymes, a wealthy Suffolk merchant, who in 1296 began the building of Aydon Castle, near Corbridge.