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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 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 National ...
recorded Berwick's population as 12,043. The town is at the mouth of the River Tweed on the east coast, south east of Edinburgh, north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and north of London. Uniquely for England, the town is slightly further north than Denmark's capital Copenhagen 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 country located on ...
further east of the North Sea, which Berwick borders. Berwick was founded as an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, 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- ...
settlement in the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was annexed by England in the 10th century. A civil parish 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 and Scotland, 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 Year 1482 ( MCDLXXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 19 – A Portuguese fleet, commanded by Diogo de Azambuja, arrives at th ...
. 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 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 ori ...
, 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 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 ...
.


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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''berewíc'', meaning "corn farm" (more specifically, ''bere'' refers to barley). There are a number of places in Britain with the same name; one such is North Berwick 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 on the name.


History


Early history

In the post-Roman period, the area was inhabited by the Brythons 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 later united with the kingdom of Deira to form Northumbria, which in the mid-10th century entered the Kingdom of England under Eadred. Berwick remained part of the Earldom of Northumbria until control passed to the Scots following the Battle of Carham of 1018. The town itself was founded as an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, 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- ...
settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria.


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 by David I (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, which covered the town and a largely rural area to the north-west of it. A mint 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, 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,
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 histo ...
, 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, grants the king's chaplain "
Thomas Lauder Thomas Lauder (or Thomas de Lawedre) (1395 – 4 November 1481) was a 15th-century Scottish churchman. A graduate of the University of Paris, he served the Scottish king at the Council of Basel in the 1430s. Before he rose to the position of Bis ...
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 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 invaded and attempted to capture northern England in 1173–74. After his defeat in 1174, Berwick was ceded to Henry II of England under the Treaty of Falaise, along with four other castles at Edinburgh, Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and Stirling, 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 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 i ...
. Berwick had become a prosperous town by the middle of the 13th century. According to William Edington, a bishop and chancellor of England, Berwick was "so populous and of such commercial importance that it might rightly be called another Alexandria, whose riches were the sea and the water its walls". In 1291–92, Berwick was the site of Edward I of England's arbitration in the contest for the Scottish crown between John Balliol 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, with which Scotland was in alliance. Balliol invaded England in response, sacking
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a 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 century until 1974. From 19 ...
. 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 was displayed at Berwick after his execution and quartering on 23 August 1305. In 1314, Edward II of England 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 was ...
. Between 1315 and 1318, Scottish armies, sometimes with the help of Flemish and German privateers, 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 leg ...
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 seized ...
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, who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Neville's Cross 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 â€“ 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 The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...
during the Wars of the Roses. 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 the ...
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 curren ...
(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 Battl ...
) 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, county-e ...
. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, 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 was also involved in the project. Berwick’s role as a border fortress town ended with England and Scotland's Union of the Crowns. On 6 April 1603,
James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 â€“ 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 hi ...
crossed the Border on his journey southwards to be crowned James I 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 faced that of General Alexander Leslie 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 and ...
, which were concerned with bringing the Presbyterian Church of Scotland 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 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. Burg ...
of Berwick on the north bank.
Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...
was built in 1648–52. It is the most northerly parish church in England and was built under special licence from Oliver Cromwell 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. 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 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 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, with ...
". 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 N ...
, which is the unitary authority 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, 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, county-e ...
for most purposes from 1482 up until 1885, when it was fully incorporated into Northumberland. 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, but applied to the Lord Lyon King of Arms, 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 N ...
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 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 constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.


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 fishing, shipbuilding, engineering, sawmilling, fertilizer 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, most ...
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 in 2006 to build a store near the site, but in 2008 gave Tesco 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 supermarket with a petrol station, alongside a branch of McDonald's, a Travelodge UK and an Aldi 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 KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
and Costa Coffee drive-throughs, A Food Warehouse wholesale store, Greggs and a Home Bargains supermarket. The retail park is located adjacent to the Morrisons 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 highwa ...
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 broa ...
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 recor ...
. 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 mar ...
. 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 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 ad ...
(MSP) Christine Grahame 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 Holyro ...
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, 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, 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 dialects and East Central Scots. In 1892, linguist 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 authorit ...
; and predominant non-rhoticity: older speakers tend to be slightly rhotic, while younger speakers are universally non-rhotic. A sociological study of the Anglo-Scottish border 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 Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at th ...
, 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 constitut ...
".


Sport

Berwick Rangers Football Club were formed in the town in 1881. The club plays in the Scottish football league system. The home stadium of Berwick Rangers is
Shielfield Park Shielfield Park is a football stadium that is home to Berwick Rangers and Berwick Bandits speedway team. Although Berwick Rangers is a Scottish Lowland Football League club, Shielfield Park is situated in the English county of Northumberland. ...
, and the club currently plays in the
Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...
, the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The town also has a rugby union 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 the ...
, who play in Scottish Rugby Union'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. Fo ...
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 apocryphal story that Berwick is (or recently has been) officially at war with Russia. According to a story by George Hawthorne in '' The Guardian'' of 28 December 1966, the London correspondent of '' Pravda'' 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, appeared in '' The Baltimore Sun'' of 17 December 1966; '' The Washington Post'' of 18 December 1966; and '' The Christian Science Monitor'' 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 against Russia in 1853, which Queen Victoria 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, schools in Berwick use the three-tier system. Pupils may also commute across the Scottish border to
Eyemouth Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at th ...
or Berwickshire 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 (co-ed, all ages) Special schools * The Grove School


Twin towns

* Berwick, Pennsylvania, United States * Berwick, Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
* Haan, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany * Sarpsborg, Østfold, Norway * Trzcianka,
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


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. 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 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 to Edinburgh was built by order of James VI and I. * Holy Trinity Parish Church, unusual for having been built during the Commonwealth of England. 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. * Berwick Barracks, built 1717–1721, the design attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor. * Berwick Town Hall, 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 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 bu ...
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 peopl ...
, is north of the town. It is the most northern hotel in England, just 275 metres from the Scottish border at Marshall Meadows Bay. * 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 stayed there in 1861. * The Royal Border Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson 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 broa ...
126 feet above the River Tweed. It was opened by Queen Victoria. * St Andrew's Church, Wallace Green was built in 1859 and is one of only eight Church of Scotland congregations in England. * The Masonic Hall was built in 1872 for the town's St David's Masonic Lodge 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 The Royal Tweed Bridge is a road bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England crossing the River Tweed. It was intended to divert traffic from the 17th century Berwick Bridge, and until the 1980s it formed part of the A1 road, the ma ...
, 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 highwa ...
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 Dewar's Lane is an alley of medieval origin in the centre of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Over the centuries, heavy cart-wheels have cut deep grooves in its setts. Once painted by the artist L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887&n ...
runs down Back Street just off Bridge Street. Like other Berwick locations, it was painted by L. S. Lowry, 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.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 England, English actor. As famous for his erratic habits as for his acting, he was largely responsible for initiating the romantic style in acting t ...
(1756–1811), widely called the first Romantic actor in England *
Anne Hepple Dickinson Anne Hepple Dickinson, née Batty, (16 October 1877 – 10 November 1959), was a British writer and editor, who wrote over 25 romantic novels under the pseudonym Anne Hepple. She was the first editor of ''The Woman's Magazine'' in London from 193 ...
(1877–1959), writer *
Thomas Herriot Thomas Pearson Herriot (11 May 1887 — 20 October 1949) was an English first-class cricketer and physician. The son of David Herriot, he was born at Berwick-upon-Tweed in May 1887. He was educated in Edinburgh at Fettes College, before matricu ...
(1887–1949), cricketer * George Johnston (1797–1855), naturalist. * Alexander Knox, 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 ''Tank Girl'' is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline''. After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ...
, 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 Holyro ...
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 Trevor McGregor Steven (born 21 September 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-sided midfielder. He progressed through the ranks at Burnley, making his debut in 1981 and becoming a regular supplier of goals o ...
, England and Everton footballer, born in Berwick * Joseph Stevenson, prominent English Catholic archivist and Jesuit priest, born in Berwick *
Tweedy John Todd Tweedy John Todd (1789–1840) (also known as Tweedie John Todd, or John Tweedy Todd) was an English doctor, Royal Navy surgeon and naturalist who conducted early experimental work on healing and regeneration in animals. Biography Early life ...
, born in Berwick in 1789, doctor and naturalist *
Patrick Tonyn Patrick Tonyn (1725–1804) was a British General who served as the last British governor of East Florida, from 1774 to 1783. His governorship lasted the span of the American Revolution. East Florida was a Loyalist colony during the war. Ear ...
, born in Berwick in 1725, a military general and Governor of British East Florida * Henry Travers, grew up in Berwick (although actually born in Prudhoe), was a character actor, most famously as Clarence Odbody in '' It's a Wonderful Life''


Climate

Berwick-upon-Tweed has a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. Because of its far northern position in England coupled with considerable North Sea 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 Penelope E ...
.


See also

* Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival *
List of ships named for Berwick-upon-Tweed A number of ships have been named for Berwick-upon-Tweed: * was launched at Calcutta in 1795. She made three voyages for the British East India Company. On her maiden voyage, which was under the auspices of the EIC, she carried rice from Bengal for ...
* Scottish Marches * Scots' Dike *
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