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Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
, England, south of the
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The ...
, and the northernmost town in England. The
2011 United Kingdom census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for Nationa ...
recorded Berwick's population as 12,043. The town is at the mouth of the
River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...
on the east coast, south east of
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, north of
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, and north of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Uniquely for England, the town is slightly further north than
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
's capital
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
and the southern tip of
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
further east of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
, which Berwick borders. Berwick was founded as an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
settlement in the
Kingdom of Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, which was annexed by England in the 10th century. A
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
and town council were formed in 2008 comprising the communities of Berwick, Spittal and Tweedmouth. It is the northernmost civil parish in England. The area was for more than 400 years central to historic border wars between the Kingdoms of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and several times possession of Berwick changed hands between the two kingdoms. The last time it changed hands was when Richard of Gloucester retook it for England in 1482. To this day, many Berwickers feel a close affinity to Scotland. Both Berwick Rangers Football Club and Berwick Rugby Football Club play in Scottish leagues. Berwick remains a traditional
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
and also has some notable architectural features, in particular its medieval
town walls A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...
, its Georgian
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, its Elizabethan ramparts, and Britain's earliest
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
buildings, which
Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
built (1717–1721) for the
Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence o ...
.


Name

Berwick's name is of the same origin as the archaic word '' berewick'', denoting a portion of farmland which was detached from a manor and reserved for a lord's own use. This comes from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
''berewíc'', meaning "corn farm" (more specifically, ''bere'' refers to
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
). There are a number of places in Britain with the same name; one such is
North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...
in Scotland, and Berwick-upon-Tweed has also been called "South Berwick" in Scottish sources. The medieval seal of the town showed a bear and a
wych Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl (sodium chloride), is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life depends on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of y ...
tree as a
pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on the name.


History


Early history

In the post-Roman period, the area was inhabited by the
Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...
s of
Bryneich Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was appr ...
. Later, the region became part of the Anglian kingdom of
Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
. Bernicia later united with the kingdom of
Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom. Etymology The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
to form
Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, which in the mid-10th century entered the
Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...
under
Eadred Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed try ...
. Berwick remained part of the
Earldom of Northumbria Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Scandinavian and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The ealdordom was a successor of the Norse Kingdom of York. In the seventh century, the Anglo-Saxon ...
until control passed to the Scots following the
Battle of Carham The Battle of Carham (c. 1018) was fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Northumbrians at Carham on Tweed. Uhtred, son of Waltheof of Bamburgh (or his brother Eadwulf), fought the combined forces of Malcolm II of Scotland and Owen ...
of 1018. The town itself was founded as an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
settlement during the time of the
Kingdom of Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
.


Scottish burgh

Between the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the land between the rivers
Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...
and Tweed came under Scottish control, either through conquest by Scotland or through cession by England. Berwick was made a
royal burgh A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...
by
David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...
(reigned 1124–1153). David also established many of the shires of Scotland, with Berwick becoming the
county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
of
Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...
, which covered the town and a largely rural area to the north-west of it. A
mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...
was present in the town by 1153. In 1276, William de Baddeby was Constable of Berwick.Historic Manuscripts Commission, ''MSS of Col. David Milne Home of Wedderburn Castle, N.B.'',
HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...
, London, 1902, pg. 225.
While under Scottish control, Berwick was referred to as "South Berwick" in order to differentiate it from the town of
North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...
,
East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the his ...
, near Edinburgh. Berwick had a mediaeval hospital for the sick and poor, which the Church administered. A charter under the Great Seal of Scotland, confirmed by King
James I of Scotland James I (late July 139421 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of ...
, grants the king's chaplain " Thomas Lauder of the House of God or Hospital lying in the burgh of Berwick-upon-Tweed, to be held to him for the whole time of his life with all lands, teinds, rents and profits, etc., belonging to the said hospital, as freely as is granted to any other hospital in the Kingdom of Scotland; the king also commands all those concerned to pay to the grantee all things necessary for the support of the hospital. Dated at Edinburgh June 8, in the 20th year of his reign."


Disputed territory

Berwick's strategic position on the
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The ...
during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and takeovers.
William I of Scotland William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...
invaded and attempted to capture northern England in 1173–74. After his defeat in 1174, Berwick was ceded to
Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...
under the
Treaty of Falaise The Treaty of Falaise was a forced written agreement made in December 1174 between the captive William I, King of Scots, and Henry II, King of England. During the Revolt of 1173-1174, William joined the rebels and was captured at the Battle of ...
, along with four other castles at
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
,
Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in ...
, Roxburgh, and
Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
, with the five castles to be garrisoned with English troops paid for at Scottish expense. The Treaty of Falaise was annulled in 1189 when William paid
Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Aquitaine and Duchy of Gascony, Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Co ...
10,000 marks sterling to contribute towards the latter's
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
. Berwick had become a prosperous town by the middle of the 13th century. According to
William Edington William Edington (died 6 or 7 October 1366) was an English bishop and administrator. He served as Bishop of Winchester from 1346 until his death, Keeper of the wardrobe from 1341 to 1344, treasurer from 1344 to 1356, and finally as chancellor fr ...
, a bishop and chancellor of England, Berwick was "so populous and of such commercial importance that it might rightly be called another
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, whose riches were the sea and the water its walls". In 1291–92, Berwick was the site of
Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a va ...
's arbitration in the contest for the Scottish crown between
John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered a ...
and
Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale Robert V de Brus (Robert de Brus), 5th Lord of Annandale (ca. 1215 – 31 March or 3 May 1295), was a feudal lord, justice and constable of Scotland and England, a regent of Scotland, and a competitor for the Scottish throne in 1290/92 in the ...
. The decision in favour of Balliol was pronounced in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle on 17 November 1292. In 1296, England went to war with
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, with which Scotland was in alliance. Balliol invaded England in response, sacking
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...
. Edward in turn invaded Scotland and captured Berwick, destroying much of the town and massacring the burgesses, merchants and artisans of the town. Edward I went again to Berwick in August 1296 to receive formal homage from some 2,000 Scottish nobles, after defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in April and forcing John Balliol to abdicate at Kincardine Castle the following July. At this time, work began on building the town walls (and rebuilding the earlier Castle); these fortifications were complete by 1318 and subsequently improved under Scottish rule. An arm of
William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...
was displayed at Berwick after his execution and quartering on 23 August 1305. In 1314,
Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
mustered 25,000 men at Berwick, who later fought in the crushing defeat at the
Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...
. Between 1315 and 1318, Scottish armies, sometimes with the help of Flemish and German
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, besieged and
blockaded A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
the town, finally capturing it in April 1318. England retook Berwick the day after the
Battle of Halidon Hill The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seiz ...
in 1333. The Scottish briefly took control of the town of Berwick (but not its castle) after a siege in November 1355, but were in turn besieged by the English, who retook the town in January 1356. In October 1357, a treaty was signed at Berwick by which the Scottish estates undertook to pay 100,000 marks as a ransom for
David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, beco ...
, who had been taken prisoner at the
Battle of Neville's Cross The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy los ...
on 17 October 1346. In 1461, Berwick was ceded back to Scotland by
Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (french: link=no, Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England and nominally Queen of France by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Born in the Duchy of Lorrain ...
on behalf of her husband, Henry VI, in return for help against the Yorkists during the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...
. Robert Lauder of
Edrington Edrington is a medieval estate occupying the lower part of Mordington parish in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed. From probably the 14th century, if not earlier, a castle occupied the steep hill above t ...
was put in charge of the castle. He was succeeded in 1474 by David, Earl of Crawford. On 3 February 1478, Robert Lauder of the Bass and Edrington was again appointed Keeper of the castle, a position that he held until the final year of Scottish control, when Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes, had possession. In 1482, Richard,
Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...
(later
Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...
) recaptured the town. Thomas Gower () was the English
marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
of Berwick 1543-1552. The Scots did not accept this conquest as is evidenced by innumerable charters for at least two centuries after this date. Over the course of a little more than 400 years, Berwick had changed hands more than a dozen times.


English town

In 1551, the town was made a self-governing
county corporate A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county-empo ...
. During the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, vast sums – one source reports "£128,648, the most expensive undertaking of the Elizabethan period" – were spent on its fortifications, in a new Italian style ('' trace italienne''), designed both to withstand artillery and to facilitate its use from within the fortifications. These fortifications have been described as "the only surviving walls of their kind". Sir Richard Lee designed some of the Elizabethan works, and the Italian military engineer
Giovanni Portinari Giovanni Portinari (flourished 1526 – 1572) was an Italian military engineer who served several Tudor monarchs of England. He is most famous for organising the demolition of Lewes Priory in 1538 on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, the chief minist ...
was also involved in the project. Berwick’s role as a border fortress town ended with England and Scotland's
Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...
. On 6 April 1603,
James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
crossed the Border on his journey southwards to be crowned
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
of England. He was met at Lamberton by the Lord Governor of Berwick with a mounted party from the garrison and was conducted into the town. In December 1603, the Crown ordered the dissolution of the garrison of Berwick and the number of soldiers was reduced to 100 men and pensioners. In 1639, the army of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
faced that of General
Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (15804 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland bec ...
at Berwick in the
Bishops' Wars The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First ...
, which were concerned with bringing the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
under Charles's control. The two sides did not fight, but negotiated a settlement, the "Pacification of Berwick". Berwick Bridge, also known as the "Old Bridge" dates to 1611. It linked Islandshire on the south bank of the
River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...
with the county
burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Bur ...
of Berwick on the north bank. Holy Trinity Church was built in 1648–52. It is the most northerly parish church in England and was built under special licence from
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...
during the Commonwealth period. The population of the parliamentary borough in 1841 was 12,578, and that of the parish was 8,484.


British town

In 1707, the Act of Union united England and Scotland to create Great Britain. Since then, Berwick has remained within the laws and legal system of
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...
. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 (since repealed) deemed that whenever legislation referred to England, it applied to Berwick without the need for a specific reference to the town. In the 1840s, Samuel Lewis included similar entries for Berwick-upon-Tweed in both his England and Scotland ''Topographical Dictionary''. Berwick remained a county in its own right, and was not included in
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
for Parliamentary purposes until 1885. In the same year, the Redistribution of Seats Act reduced the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) returned by the town from two to one. England now is officially defined as "subject to any alteration of boundaries under Part IV of the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, the area consisting of the counties established by section 1 of that Act, Greater London and the Isles of Scilly", which thus includes Berwick. In the 1972 act's reorganisation of English local government from 1 April 1974, the
Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed was a local government district and borough in Northumberland in the north-east of England, on the border with Scotland. The district had a resident population of 25,949 according to the 2001 census, which also notes that ...
was created by the merger of the previous borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed with Belford Rural District, Glendale Rural District and Norham and Islandshires Rural District. The
Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision for the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Assembly, subor ...
provides that in legislation passed between 1967 and 1974, "a reference to England includes Berwick upon Tweed and
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...
". In 2009 the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed was abolished as part of wider structural changes to local government in England. All functions previously exercised by Berwick Borough Council were transferred to
Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of ...
, which is the
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
for the area.


Governance

During periods of Scottish administration, Berwick was the
county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
of
Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...
, to which the town gave its name. Thus at various points in the Middle Ages and from 1482 (when Berwick became administered by England), Berwickshire had the unique distinction of being the only county in the British Isles to be named after a town in another country. The town of Berwick was a
county corporate A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county-empo ...
for most purposes from 1482 up until 1885, when it was fully incorporated into
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
. Between 1885 and 1974, Berwick (north of the Tweed) was a borough council in its own right. In 1958, the borough's council applied for a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
, but applied to the
Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants ...
, the Scottish heraldic authority, for the grant "as suitable to a Burgh of Scotland", which was duly granted. On 1 April 1974, the borough was merged with Belford Rural District, Glendale Rural District and Norham and Islandshires Rural District to form Berwick Borough Council.
Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of ...
became the unitary authority for the area when the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed was abolished on 1 April 2009. A new Berwick-upon-Tweed
Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
was created on 3 March 2008 covering Berwick-upon-Tweed, Tweedmouth, and Spittal. It has taken over the former Borough's mayoralty and regalia. The current Mayor is Cllr Mike Greener. Berwick-upon-Tweed is in the
parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
constituency of
Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census re ...
.


Economy

Slightly more than 60% of the population is employed in the service sector, including shops, hotels and catering, financial services and most government activity, including health care. Some current and recent Berwick economic activities include
salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
fishing, shipbuilding, engineering,
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
ing,
fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
production,
malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, mo ...
and the manufacture of tweed and hosiery. Berwick town centre comprises the Mary Gate and High Street where many local shops and some retail chains exist. New office development has been built in the Walker Gate beside the library, which combined space with the Northumberland Adult Learning Centre and Tourism centre. There is a retail park in Tweedmouth consisting of a Homebase, Farm Foods, Marks and Spencer, Argos, Next, Carpetright, Currys PC World and Poundland. Berwick Borough Council refused a proposal from
Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
in 2006 to build a store near the site, but in 2008 gave
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
planning permission for its new store in the town, which opened on 13 September 2010. Asda went on to take over the Co-op shop unit in Tweedmouth in early 2010. A
Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...
supermarket with a petrol station, alongside a branch of
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
, a Travelodge UK and an
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...
all exist on Loaning Meadows close to the outskirts of the town near the current A1. The current Aldi outlet is confirmed to be moving its operations to a new location in the under-construction Loaning Meadows Retail Park which will also be host to KFC and
Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. I ...
drive-throughs, A Food Warehouse wholesale store,
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...
and a Home Bargains supermarket. The retail park is located adjacent to the
Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...
store.


Transport

The old
A1 road A list of roads designated A1, sorted by alphabetical order of country. * A01 highway (Afghanistan), a long ring road or beltway connecting Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar * A1 motorway (Albania), connecting Durrës and Kukës * A001 highw ...
passes through Berwick. The modern A1 goes around the town to the west. The town is on the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running b ...
railway and is served by
Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...
. A small seaport at Tweedmouth facilitates the import and export of goods but provides no passenger services. The port is protected by a long breakwater built in the 19th century, at the end of which is a red and white
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...
. Completed in 1826, the tower emits a white light every five seconds from a window overlooking the sea. Seafarers' charity Apostleship of the Sea has a chaplain to support the needs of mariners arriving at the port. Bus services are mostly operated by Borders Buses (part of West Coast Motors) and Arriva providing both local and longer links. The town is also served by National Express coaches.


Culture


Berwick's identity

Berwick is famous for its hesitation over whether it is part of Scotland or England. Some people are adamant they are English and their loyalty lies with Northumberland, while others feel an affinity with Scotland. Whilst it has been argued that the town's geographic and historic place between the two has led to it developing a distinctive identity of its own, many people in Berwick also have mixed Anglo-Scottish families which contributes to a sense of separate identity. Historian Derek Sharman said "The people of Berwick feel really independent. You are a Berwicker first, Scottish or English second." Former mayor Mike Elliot said "25% of the town consider themselves English, 25% Scottish and 50% Berwickers." Professor Dominic Watt of the
University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...
noted that: "Older people view themselves more as Scots than the younger people in Berwick, and this can be heard in their accents." In 2008, SNP
Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The add ...
(MSP)
Christine Grahame Christine Grahame (formerly Creech; born 9 September 1944) is a Scottish politician who served as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of ...
made calls in the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
for Berwick to become part of Scotland again. The Liberal Democrat MSP
Jeremy Purvis Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed (born 15 January 1974) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011. In August 2013 it was announced ...
, who was born and brought up in Berwick, asked for the border to be moved twenty miles south, stating: "There’s a strong feeling that Berwick should be in Scotland. Until recently, I had a gran in Berwick and another in Kelso, and they could see that there were better public services in Scotland." However,
Alan Beith Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, (born 20 April 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015. From 1992 to 2003 he was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democr ...
, the former MP for Berwick, said the move would require a massive legal upheaval and is not realistic. Beith's successor as MP,
Anne-Marie Trevelyan Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (née Beaton; born 6 April 1969) is a British politician, a member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwick-upon-Tweed since 2015. Trevelyan is a junior minister, and has served ...
, said: "Voters in Berwick-upon-Tweed do not believe it is whether they are in England or Scotland that is important."


Berwick dialect

The local speech of Berwick-upon-Tweed shares many characteristics with both other rural
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
dialects and East Central Scots. In 1892,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
Richard Oliver Heslop divided the county of Northumberland into four dialect zones and placed the Berwick dialect in the "north-Northumbrian" region, an area extending from Berwick down to the River Coquet. Likewise, Charles Jones (1997) classes the dialect as "predominantly North-Northumbrian" with "a few features shared with Scots". Features of this dialect include the " Northumbrian burr", a distinct pronunciation of the letter R historically common to many dialects of
North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...
; and predominant
non-rhoticity Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieti ...
: older speakers tend to be slightly rhotic, while younger speakers are universally non-rhotic. A sociological study of the
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The ...
region conducted in 2000 found that locals of
Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...
, south of Berwick, associated the Berwick accent with Scottish influence. Conversely, those from Eyemouth, Scotland, north of Berwick, firmly classed Berwick speech as English, identifying it as "Northumbrian or
Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...
".


Sport

Berwick Rangers Football Club were formed in the town in 1881. The club plays in the
Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...
. The home stadium of Berwick Rangers is Shielfield Park, and the club currently plays in the
Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...
, the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The town also has a
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
side,
Berwick RFC Berwick Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team that was founded in 1926, and reformed in 1968. The team is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, just over the border in England. They are affiliated to the English Rugby Football Union and t ...
, who play in
Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...
's East Regional League Division 1. Before 2016, the two teams were unique in being English teams that play in Scottish leagues. A newer team in the town Tweedmouth Rangers Football Club has played in the
East of Scotland Football League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. ...
since 2016. Before this, they were members of the North Northumberland League. Their home ground is Old Shielfield Park, which the club uses under an agreement with Berwick Rangers Football Club. Speedway has taken place in Berwick in two separate eras. The sport was introduced to Shielfield Park in May 1968. A dispute between the speedway club and the stadium owners ended the first spell. The sport returned to Shielfield Park in the mid-1990s. The lack of a venue in the town saw the team move to a rural location called Berrington Lough. The team, known as the
Bandits Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
, have raced at all levels from First Division to Conference League (first to third levels).


Relations with Russia

There is an
apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
l story that Berwick is (or recently has been) officially at war with
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
. According to a story by George Hawthorne in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' of 28 December 1966, the London correspondent of ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'' visited the Mayor of Berwick, Councillor Robert Knox, and the two made a mutual declaration of peace. Knox said, "Please tell the Russian people through your newspaper that they can sleep peacefully in their beds." The same story, cited to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
, appeared in ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
'' of 17 December 1966; ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' of 18 December 1966; and ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' of 22 December 1966. At some point in time, the real events seem to have been turned into a story of a "Soviet official" having signed a "peace treaty" with Mayor Knox; Knox's remark to the ''Pravda'' correspondent was preserved in this version. The basis for such status was the claim that Berwick had changed hands several times, was traditionally regarded as a special, separate entity, and some proclamations referred to "England, Scotland and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed". One such was the declaration of the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
against Russia in 1853, which
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
supposedly signed as "Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, Ireland, Berwick-upon-Tweed and all British Dominions". When the Treaty of Paris was signed to conclude the war, "Berwick-upon-Tweed" was left out. This meant that, supposedly, one of Britain's smallest towns was officially at war with one of the world's largest powers – and the conflict extended by the lack of a peace treaty for over a century. In reality, Berwick-upon-Tweed was not mentioned in either the declaration of war or the final peace treaty and was legally part of the United Kingdom for both.


Education

As with the rest of
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
, schools in Berwick use the three-tier system. Pupils may also commute across the Scottish border to Eyemouth or
Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...
to attend secondary school. First schools * Berwick St Mary C of E * Holy Island C of E * Holy Trinity C of E * Hugh Joicey C of E * Lowick * Norham St Celwulfs C of E * Scremerston * Spittal Community School * St Cuthbert's RC * Tweedmouth Prior Park * Tweedmouth West Middle schools * Berwick Middle School * Tweedmouth Community High schools * Berwick Academy Independent schools *
Longridge Towers School Longridge Towers School is a non-selective co-educational independent day and boarding school in the parish of Horncliffe (formerly Longridge) near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, for children between the ages of three and eightee ...
(co-ed, all ages) Special schools * The Grove School


Twin towns

* Berwick,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
* Berwick,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
*
Haan Haan () is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated at the western edge of the Bergisches Land, 12 km southwest of Wuppertal and 17 km east of Düsseldorf. In 1975, Gruiten was incorporated ...
, Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
*
Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neig ...
,
Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden ( Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other s ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
*
Trzcianka Trzcianka (; german: Schönlanke) is a town in the Greater Poland region in northwestern Poland. Since 1999, it has been part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship and Czarnków-Trzcianka County. From 1975 to 1998, it was located in the Piła Voivod ...
,
Wielkopolskie Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 o ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...


Landmarks

* Berwick Castle was built in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 1290s. It was in disrepair by the 17th century, and much of it was demolished in the 19th century to make way for the
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
. However, substantial ruins remain just outside the town's rampart walls to the west by the river. * Berwick town walls and Tudor ramparts are some of the country's finest remaining examples of their type. * The Old Bridge, 15-span
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
arch bridge long, built in 1610–1624 for £15,000. The bridge continues to carry road traffic, but in one direction only. The bridge, part of the Great North Road from
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
was built by order of
James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
. * Holy Trinity Parish Church, unusual for having been built during the
Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...
. It was built in 1648–1652 with stone from the 13th-century castle. It was originally a plain "preaching box", with no steeple, stained glass or other decorations. Contents include a pulpit thought to have been built for John Knox during his stay in the town. The church was much altered in 1855 with many new windows and the addition of a
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...
. * Berwick Barracks, built 1717–1721, the design attributed to
Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
. *
Berwick Town Hall Berwick Town Hall is a municipal facility in Marygate, Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council, is a Grade I listed building. History The curren ...
, designed by S&J Worrell and built in 1754–1760. The building is neoclassical, and originally the town's prison was on the top floor. The tower above the council chamber has a ring of eight bells and a curfew bell. Lester and Pack of the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...
cast the tenor, third, fourth and treble bells in 1754 and the fifth and sixth bells in 1759. Charles Carr of
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider b ...
cast the second and curfew bells in 1894. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the seventh bell in 1901. * Dewars Lane Granary, built in 1769, now restored as a hotel and art gallery. * Marshall Meadows Country House Hotel, built in 1780 as a
country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...
, is north of the town. It is the most northern hotel in England, just 275 metres from the Scottish border at
Marshall Meadows Bay __NOTOC__ Marshall Meadows Bay is the northernmost point of England. It is located on the Northumberland coast, north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and just to the south of the Anglo-Scottish border. Across the border in Scotland is the county of Berwi ...
. * Union Bridge, upstream, from Berwick, was built in 1821 and is the world's oldest surviving suspension bridge. * The Kings Arms Hotel on Hide Hill was built in 1782 and rebuilt in 1845.
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
stayed there in 1861. * The Royal Border Bridge, designed by
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
and built in 1847–1850 at a cost of £253,000, is a 720-yard-long railway
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
with 28 arches, carrying the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running b ...
126 feet above the River Tweed. It was opened by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. * St Andrew's Church, Wallace Green was built in 1859 and is one of only eight
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
congregations in England. * The Masonic Hall was built in 1872 for the town's St David's
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
for £1,800. The lodge still owns the hall and is also used by other Masonic lodges and orders. It is one of few purpose-built Masonic halls in the country and is a scarce example of Victorian Masonic architecture. It has a large pipe organ built in 1895. The Hall contains many artefacts and documents concerning Freemasonry in the town, which can be traced back to 1643. * The Royal Tweed Bridge, built in 1925 to carry the
A1 road A list of roads designated A1, sorted by alphabetical order of country. * A01 highway (Afghanistan), a long ring road or beltway connecting Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar * A1 motorway (Albania), connecting Durrës and Kukës * A001 highw ...
across the Tweed. Its span is , which at the time was the longest concrete span. The A1 now bypasses the town to the west. In the early 2000s, the bridge was renovated, the road and pavement layout revised, and new street lighting added. * Dewars Lane runs down Back Street just off Bridge Street. Like other Berwick locations, it was painted by
L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...
, who visited Berwick often, especially in the 1930s when he stayed at the Castle Hotel. * There are numerous sea caves on the coastline to the north of Berwick, with lengths up to 67 metres. The caves are found in the cliffs from Green's Haven to the Scottish border at
Marshall Meadows Bay __NOTOC__ Marshall Meadows Bay is the northernmost point of England. It is located on the Northumberland coast, north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and just to the south of the Anglo-Scottish border. Across the border in Scotland is the county of Berwi ...
.Scaife, Chris: ''The Caves of Northumberland'', Sigma Leisure, 2019


Notable people

*
Torben Betts Torben Betts (born 10 February 1968, in Stamford, Lincolnshire) is an English playwright, screenwriter and actor. Betts attended the University of Liverpool, where he read English Literature and English Language, and originally trained to becom ...
, award-winning playwright, lives in Berwick *
Lucy Bronze Lucia Roberta Tough Bronze (born 28 October 1991), known as Lucy Bronze, is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Barcelona and the England national team. She has previously played for Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool, Lyon a ...
, footballer for Barcelona Women and England, born in Berwick-upon-Tweed * James Cockburn, first speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, born in Berwick *
George Frederick Cooke George Frederick Cooke (17 April 1756 in London – 26 September 1812 in New York City) was an English actor. As famous for his erratic habits as for his acting, he was largely responsible for initiating the romantic style in acting that wa ...
(1756–1811), widely called the first Romantic actor in England * Anne Hepple Dickinson (1877–1959), writer * Thomas Herriot (1887–1949), cricketer * George Johnston (1797–1855), naturalist. *
Alexander Knox Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944). ...
, the Hollywood actor, made Berwick his adopted home and died there. * Rev Prof Robert Lee DD (1804–1868), raised in Tweedmouth * John Leonard (born 1857), architect, born in Berwick-upon-Tweed * Eric Lomax, the author of ''The Railway Man'', lived in Berwick-upon-Tweed * Alan Martin, co-creator of the comic and movie character Tank Girl, lives in Berwick *
Jeremy Purvis Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed (born 15 January 1974) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011. In August 2013 it was announced ...
, Liberal Democrat MSP, and youngest person in
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
at time of election. Since 2013 Purvis has been a life peer in the House of Lords, sitting on the Liberal Democrat benches. * James Redpath American anti-slavery activist and journalist, born in Berwick *
Ian Sarfas Ian Sarfas (born 10 June 1970 in London) is a former English professional darts player who currently on British Darts Organisation from the 1990s. Darts career Sarfas played in the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship, beating Dave Askew in the ...
, English darts player, played in the 1994 BDO World Darts Championships * Thomas Smith, soldier and writer * Trevor Steven, England and Everton footballer, born in Berwick *
Joseph Stevenson Joseph Stevenson (27 November 1806 – 8 February 1895) was an English Catholic priest, archivist and editor of historical texts. Early life Joseph Stevenson was born on 27 November 1806 in Berwick-on-Tweed, the eldest son of Robert Stevenson, s ...
, prominent English Catholic archivist and Jesuit priest, born in Berwick * Tweedy John Todd, born in Berwick in 1789, doctor and naturalist * Patrick Tonyn, born in Berwick in 1725, a military general and Governor of British
East Florida East Florida ( es, Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of Spanish Florida from 1783 to 1821. Great Britain gained control of the long-established Spanish colony of ''La Florida'' in 1763 as part of ...
*
Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...
, grew up in Berwick (although actually born in Prudhoe), was a character actor, most famously as
Clarence Odbody Clarence Odbody, also spelled Clarence Oddbody, (born May 1653) is a guardian angel character in Frank Capra's 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life'', where he was portrayed by Henry Travers, and in the 1990 sequel, ''Clarence'', where he was playe ...
in ''
It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
''


Climate

Berwick-upon-Tweed has a
maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
with narrow temperature differences between seasons. Because of its far northern position in England coupled with considerable
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
influence, the area has very cool summers for an English location, with a subdued July (1981–2010) high of , more resembling a Scottish climate. January, in turn, has a high of with a low of with occasional frosts averaging 38.1 times per annum. Rainfall is relatively low by British standards, with on average; nonetheless, sunshine is limited to an average of 1508.5 hours per annum. All data are sourced from the Berwick-upon-Tweed station operated by the
Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelop ...
.


See also

* Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival * List of ships named for Berwick-upon-Tweed * Scottish Marches *
Scots' Dike The Scots' Dike or dyke is a three and a half mile / 5.25 km long linear earthwork, constructed by the English and the Scots in the year 1552Mack, James Logan (1926). ''The Border Line'', p.94. Oliver & Boyd to mark the division of the De ...
*
Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War ( nl, Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog, kw, Bell a dri hans pymthek warn ugens) was an alleged state of war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (located off the southwest coast of Gr ...


Notes


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* Record that payments were made to Robert Lauder of The Bass as Captain and Keeper of the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1480 and 1481. * * * *


External links


Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council

Berwick Shipyard
– images and history of Berwick's shipbuilding
Things to do in Berwick-upon-Tweed
Official Visitor Information
The British town with a third 'nationality'
– BBC Travel {{DEFAULTSORT:Berwick-Upon-Tweed Berwickshire History of the Scottish Borders Populated coastal places in Northumberland Populated places on the River Tweed Ports and harbours of Northumberland Royal burghs Towns in Northumberland Former county towns in England Civil parishes in Northumberland