National Gazetteer (1868) - Berwick upon Tweed

"BERWICK UPON TWEED, a parish, borough, seaport, and market town, within that part of the county of Northumberland called Islandshire, on the frontiers of England and Scotland, 58 miles to the S.E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway, and 371 miles to the N. of London by the North-Eastern railway. It is situated on the north bank and at the mouth of the river Tweed, but was constituted in the reign of William IV. a county of itself. The question of its relation to England and Scotland remained for a long time unsettled, but has recently been determined by enactment to be included in England. The parish, consisting of the town and its liberties, is bounded by the German Ocean, the county of Berwick, and the river Tweed, and comprises an area of 6,195 acres, while the borough has an area of 7,497 acres. The river belongs partly to the town and partly to Islandshire. The foundation of the town is commonly assigned to the Saxon kings of Northumbria, but nothing is certainly ascertained of its origin. The Danes are said to have landed here in 867, and a few years after the place was taken by the Scots, who did not retain it. In 1020, it is said to have been ceded to Malcolm II. But no authentic record of the town occurs before the reign of Henry I. At that period it was evidently a place of importance as a seaport, had a castle and many religious houses, and was the chief town of Lothian. It was one of the four towns of Scotland which were raised to the rank of royal burghs. The town was in the hands of the English from 1176 to 1189, being given up to Henry II. by William the Lion after the battle of Alnwick, and restored to the Scots by Richard I., on receiving from them a large sum of money for his meditated crusade. It was taken and burnt by King John in 1216, but was soon rebuilt. The commerce of the town was greatly promoted by the settlement there, in the 13th century, of some Flemish merchants. It was at Berwick that the council or commission sat in 1291, to inquire into the claims of Bruce and Baliol to the throne of Scotland, when Edward I. as lord paramount of Scotland, gave judgment in the great hall of the Castle, on the 17th of November, "That John Baliol should have seisin of the kingdom of Scotland." In 1296 Edward took the town by storm, when a great slaughter took place, and excessive cruelties were perpetrated. He received there the homage of the nobles, gave the town a charter, and made it his capital of Scotland. William Wallace took Berwick in 1297, but soon lost possession of it, and eight years later the quartered body of the hero was exposed on the walls of the town. It was taken by Robert Bruce in 1318, and held by him, till 1333, when it was given up to Edward III. after his great victory at Halidon Hill. It was repeatedly besieged, surprised, taken, and retaken during the 14th and 15th centuries, being the first point of attack on the outbreak of war between the two countries. The first occasion on which cannon were fired in England was on the taking of Berwick by Henry IV. After 1482, when the town and castle were ceded to Edward IV., they remained in the possession of the English. By treaty between Edward VI. and Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1551, Berwick was made a free town, independent of both countries. James I. passed through it on his way to England, in 1603; on whose accession it lost its importance as a frontier town. Charles I. was here twice. In 1648, Berwick was taken by Cromwell, and garrisoned for the parliament. The town stands pleasantly on rising ground to the north of the Tweed, and is connected with the suburb of Tweedmouth by a fine stone bridge of 15 arches, 1,014 feet in length. It is inconveniently narrow, being only 17 feet in breadth. It was completed about the year 1634, at a cost of £25,000, and belongs to the crown. Part of the town extends along the summit of Castle Hill. There are several good streets, and the houses are generally well built. Gas was introduced in 1822. There is a large townhall, a handsome building of hewn stone with a Tuscan portico, and a spire 150 feet in height, in which is a peal of eight bells. The lower part of the building is used as an exchange, or market, and the upper as a prison. It was erected about 1751, and stands in the middle of one of the principal streets. The barracks, which form a quadrangle, stand near the ramparts on the north-east, and can accommodate 700 men. There are assembly-rooms, a handsome corn exchange, a library, a savings-bank, and an infirmary. The principal business of the town arises from the fisheries, the shipping trade, and various manufactures connected with them. There are iron-works, manufactories of steam-engines, and shipbuilding yards. The manufactures of damask, diaper, sacking, carpets, hats, oil-cake, oil, leather, ropes, pipes, and furniture, are also carried on. The waterworks are the property of the corporation, and the gas-works are managed by two companies. Berwick is a garrison town, and is still defended by walls. The present fortifications, which were constructed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, consist of an earthen rampart with a facing of stone, strengthened on the north and east sides of the town with five bastions. There are two powder magazines, and two small batteries, commanding the entrance to the harbour. The old walls, parts of which still remain, with one tower called the Bell Tower, enclosed a larger area than the modern ones. The castle has been in ruins since the reign of Charles I. The town is entered by four gates, called the Scotch-gate, the Cowport, the Nessgate, and the Sand-gate. A fifth, which stood at the head of the bridge and was called the English-gate, has been taken down. Berwick received its charter of incorporation from James I. in 1605, under which, with some modifications by the Reform Act, it is still governed. The borough, comprising within its limits Tweedmouth and Spittle, is divided into three wards, and is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, the style of the corporation being " the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses of the borough of Berwick-on-Tweed." The town sent a representative to the burgh court of Scotland till the reign of Henry VIII., since which time it has returned two representatives to the English parliament. The sheriff is the returning officer, and the boundaries of the municipal and parliamentary boroughs are co-extensive. The borough has a revenue of about £15,800, and comprises within its limits 1,872 inhabited houses, with a population of 13,254, according to the census of 1861, showing a decrease of no less than 2,840 in the decennial period from 1851. Berwick has a rocky coast, and the entrance to the harbour is difficult from shifting sandbanks. A good stone pier, nearly half a mile long, protects the harbour,-within which there is good anchorage for vessels of 500 tons burden. A patent slip, 800 yards in length, was erected in 1810, and there are extensive warehouses along the quay. The port, which is placed under the control of commissioners, had about 60 vessels and one steamer belonging to it in 1852. Alnmouth, Budle, and Holy Island are subordinate to it. The principal business of the port is the export of salmon, corn, coals, ale, and whisky. The imports are timber, manures, bones, iron, &c. There is a lighthouse at the entrance of the harbour, the upper light of which is visible at a distance of 11 miles. The fisheries of the Tweed and the bay are very productive; the river abounding in salmon and trout, and the bay in cod, haddock, whiting, and other valuable species. The salmon are packed in ice and sent to the London market-a method of packing which has been in use since 1790. Large quantities of crabs and lobsters are also obtained, and most of the latter are exported to London. The river is not navigable above the bridge. Besides the old bridge, it is now crossed by a bridge and a viaduct for the North British railway. Berwick is a coastguard station, and the seat of a Poor-law Union and a County Court district. Three newspapers are published here, the Berwick Advertiser, the Berwick Warder, and the Berwick Journal. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Durham, of the value of £383, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church, which was built in the time of the Commonwealth, has no tower, and is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It stands on the site of an ancient one, in which the marriage of David Bruce with the sister of Edward III. was solemnised. There is also a district church dedicated to St. Mary, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £150, in the gift of the Vicar of Berwick. There are chapels belonging to the Scotch Kirk, two sections of Presbyterians, Independents, Wesleyans, Baptists, and Roman Catholics. There is a free grammar school, founded about 1605 by the corporation, the patronage of which is vested in trustees. It was endowed about 1650 by Colonel Strother, and has a revenue of about £150. There-are also a burgess school, founded in 1798; National schools, founded by Captain James Bolton in 1725, having an income from endowment of about £156; and several other schools. A lunatic asylum was established in 1813. The Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has for its object the study and knowledge of the natural features and productions of the surrounding country. Several monasteries are said to have existed here in ancient times; but there are no remains of any of them. The market, chiefly for corn, is held on Saturday, and an excellent market for cattle and sheep on every alternate Monday. Fairs are held on the second Wednesday in May, the Friday in Trinity week, the Wednesday before the 26th August, and the first Wednesday in November. The second is for the sale of black cattle and horses."

"HALIDON HILL, in the parish of Berwick upon Tweed, in county Northumberland, near Berwick. It was formerly included in county Durham, and was the scene of a battle between the Scots and English in 1333."