EXHIBIT 10.1
                                 Certification
           Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002


I, Adam J. Applegarth, Chief Executive Officer certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this annual report of Northern Rock plc ("Northern
Rock");

     2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects
the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of Northern Rock
as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

     4. Northern Rock's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for Northern Rock and have:

          (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to Northern Rock, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
prepared;

          (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of Northern Rock's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

          (c) Disclosed in this report any change in Northern Rock's internal
control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by
the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting;
and

     5. Northern Rock's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to Northern Rock's auditors and the audit committee of Northern
Rock's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect Northern Rock's ability to record,
process, summarize and report financial information; and

          (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
other employees who have a significant role in Northern Rock's internal
control over financial reporting.

                                          /s/ Adam J. Applegarth
Dated: May 25, 2004
                                          ----------------------------------
                                          Name:   Adam J. Applegarth
                                          Title:  Chief Executive Officer

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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.1
                                 Certification
           Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002


I, Robert F. Bennett, Group Finance Director certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this annual report of Northern Rock plc ("Northern
Rock");

     2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects
the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of Northern Rock
as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

     4. Northern Rock's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for Northern Rock and have:

          (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to Northern Rock, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
prepared;

          (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of Northern Rock's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

          (c) Disclosed in this report any change in Northern Rock's internal
control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by
the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting;
and

     5. Northern Rock's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
Northern Rock's auditors and the audit committee of Northern Rock's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect Northern Rock's ability to record,
process, summarize and report financial information; and

          (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
other employees who have a significant role in Northern Rock's internal
control over financial reporting.

                                          /s/ Robert F. Bennett
Dated: May 25, 2004
                                          ----------------------------------
                                          Name:   Robert F. Bennett
                                          Title:  Group Finance Director

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