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Berwick's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town of
An additional, short-lived, fort was built in 1552 to supplement the walls. By 1560, however, it was concluded that it was impractical to upgrade the existing walls and a new set of town fortifications in an Italian style were constructed instead, destroying much of the earlier medieval stonework. Sir Richard Lee served as Chief Surveyor for these works; he came up with an innovative design, combining ditches and walls backed by substantial earthworks (designed to absorb the force of an artillery attack). The new walls were much smaller in length, enclosing only two thirds of the medieval area, allowing them to include more artillery emplacements and five large stone
Medieval Town Walls: an Archaeology and Social History of Urban Defence.
' Stroud, UK: Tempus. . *Forster, R.H. (1907) "The Walls of Berwick-upon-Tweed", ''Journal of the British Archaeological Association'' Vol. 13, pp. 89–104. *Mackenzie, James D. (1896)
The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure, Vol II.
' New York: Macmillan. . *Turner, Hilary. (1971) ''Town Defences in England and Wales.'' London: John Baker. {{OCLC, 463160092 City walls in the United Kingdom Grade I listed walls Berwick-upon-Tweed Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland
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 recor ...
in England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
History
Medieval fortification
Berwick's town walls were built in the early 14th century underEdward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, following his capture of the city from the Scots. When complete they stretched in length and were 3 feet 4 inches thick and up to 22 feet (6.7 m) high, protected by a number of smaller towers, up to 60 feet (18 m) tall. They were funded by a murage
Muragh or murage was a medieval tax levied in Britain and Ireland for the construction or maintenance of town walls. The term derived from Old French, ultimately from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...
grant in 1313, a tax on particular goods imported into the town.Turner, p. 98. By 1405, however, the walls had fallen into considerable disrepair and were incapable of preventing Henry IV from taking the town with relative ease.
Berwick Castle (an earlier structure) lay just outside the medieval wall to the north-west, and was connected to the town by a bridge leading to a gate in the wall.
Elizabethan rebuilding
An additional, short-lived, fort was built in 1552 to supplement the walls. By 1560, however, it was concluded that it was impractical to upgrade the existing walls and a new set of town fortifications in an Italian style were constructed instead, destroying much of the earlier medieval stonework. Sir Richard Lee served as Chief Surveyor for these works; he came up with an innovative design, combining ditches and walls backed by substantial earthworks (designed to absorb the force of an artillery attack). The new walls were much smaller in length, enclosing only two thirds of the medieval area, allowing them to include more artillery emplacements and five large stone bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
s. The 16th century walls included four gates. In the 18th century most of the remaining parts of the medieval walls were steadily lost.
The walls today
Today the walls are, in the view of archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham, "by some measure the best-preserved example of town defences in Britain designed for post-medieval warfare".Creighton and Higham, p.270. They are protected as ascheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
and a grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
See also
*List of town walls in England and Wales
This list of town walls in England and Wales describes the city wall, fortified walls built and maintained around these towns and cities from the 1st century AD onwards. The first town walls were built by the Romans, following their Roman conq ...
* Caernarfon town walls
*Chester city walls
Chester city walls consist of a defensive structure built to protect the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. Their construction was started by the Roman Britain, Romans when they established the Castra, fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and ...
* Derry city walls
*York city walls
York has, since Roman Britain, Roman times, been defended by defensive wall, walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are k ...
References
Bibliography
*Creighton, Oliver Hamilton and Robert Higham. (2005)Medieval Town Walls: an Archaeology and Social History of Urban Defence.
' Stroud, UK: Tempus. . *Forster, R.H. (1907) "The Walls of Berwick-upon-Tweed", ''Journal of the British Archaeological Association'' Vol. 13, pp. 89–104. *Mackenzie, James D. (1896)
The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure, Vol II.
' New York: Macmillan. . *Turner, Hilary. (1971) ''Town Defences in England and Wales.'' London: John Baker. {{OCLC, 463160092 City walls in the United Kingdom Grade I listed walls Berwick-upon-Tweed Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland