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Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland County England History and GeographyBERWICK upon TWEED, a port, borough, and county of itself, situated between the boundary line of the county of Northumberland, and that of Scotland, 64 miles (N. by W.) from Newcastle upon Tyne, and 334 miles (N. by W.) from London, containing 8723 inhabitants. The name, which Leland supposes to have been originally Aberwick, from the British terms aber, the mouth of a river, and wic, a town, is, by Camden and other antiquaries, considered to imply only a hamlet annexed to a place of greater importance; such appendages being usually, in ancient records, styled berewics. It was a place of considerable importance as a barrier town, in the reign of Osbert, King of Northumbria, and according to Bo?thius, was the place where the Danes, under the conduct of Hubba, landed, on their invasion of England, in the year 867. Having come into the possession of the Saxons, they, on the defeat of their king, abandoned the town, when it was seized by Donald, King of Scotland, and appears to have formed part of the Scottish dominions, till Edgar, as it is said, obtained the sovereignty of it in 1097. The Scots having again obtained possession of the town, it was subsequently, with other fortresses, given up to Henry II., in pledge for the payment of £100,000 as the ransom of their king, who, in 1174, was taken prisoner at Alnwick. This sum not being paid at the stipulated time, Henry, with a view to retain possession of the town, built a strong castle; but upon payment of the ransom, in the reign of Richard I., it was restored to the Scots. King John, on retiring from an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland, burnt Berwick, which the Scots almost immediately rebuilt on an enlarged plan, and strongly fortified it. In 1291, the commissioners appointed to examine and report on the validity of the title of the respective claimants to the crown of Scotland, met at Berwick, and pursued there the investigation which led to the decision in favour of John Baliol. Edward I. having compelled Baliol to resign his crown, took Berwick by storm, and inflicted dreadful carnage on the occasion. In 1296, he received here the homage of the Scottish nobility, in the presence of a council of the whole nation: in the following year, a court of Exchequer for the receipt of the revenue of the kingdom of Scotland was established. Wallace laid siege to Berwick, and took possession of the town, but was unsuccessful in his attempt on the castle, which was relieved by the arrival of a numerous army. Edward II., in prosecuting the war against Scotland, assembled his army here repeatedly, and made several inroads into the enemy's territory. Robert Bruce obtained possession of it in 1318, and having raised and strengthened the walls, and erected towers thereon, kept it, notwithstanding several attacks from Edward II. and III., until it surrendered to the latter, after the celebrated battle of Hallidown-hill, in this neighbourhood, which took place on the 19th of July, 1333. As a frontier town it was invariably the first object of attack, on the renewal of hostilities between the two kingdoms, until after repeated surrenders and sieges, it was made a free town, indcpendent of both, by treaty between Edward VI., King of England, and Mary, Queen of Scots. It was strongly fortified in the reign of Elizabeth, who placed a garrison in it, which was kept up till the accession of James to the English throne, when its importance as a frontier town ceased. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I. it was garrisoned by the parliament. The town is pleasantly situated at the ?stuary, and on the northern bank, of the river Tweed: the approach from the English side is over a handsome stone bridge of fifteen arches, connecting it with the suburb of Tweedmouth on the south. The streets, with the exception of the High street, are inconveniently narrow, but are well paved, and lighted with gas: the houses, in general ancient and of mean appearance, are irregularly built: the wealthier inhabitants are supplied with water brought into their houses by pipes, from a spring at the distance of a mile and a half; the others are supplied from public cisterns placed in situations convenient for the purpose. The new fortifications, which are exceedingly strong, have displaced those of more ancient date, of which there remain only the ruins of the fortress at the south-west angle of the old town walls. The ramparts afford an agreeable promenade, much frequented by the inhabitants. The barracks for the garrison, at the north-west of the town, comprise a centre and two wings, neatly built of stone, and occupy three sides of a quadrangle; the establishment consists of a governor, lieutenant-governor, town-major, adjutant, surgeon, master gunner, and a few invalid gunners: the buildings are capable of accommodating seven hundred men. Connected with the barracks, are two guard houses, (one at the northern extremity of the bridge, and the other at the south end of Palace-street), an hospital and an ordnance house. A public library was established in 1812. The theatre, a small neat building, is opened usually a week before the commencement of the races, which take place annually in July, at Lamberton, five miles distant from the town. The assembly rooms are opened on public occasions; and subscription balls take place regulary during the winter. The trade of the port, which is somewhat extensive, is ehiefly with Norway and the Baltic; the exports are corn, wool, salmon and eggs; the imports are timber, deals, staves, iron, hemp, tallow, and blubber: a considerable coasting trade is also carried on. The number of vessels belonging to the port, according to the return made to parliament in 1828, was 54, averaging 90 tons burden: the harbour is good, but from the bar at the entrance, it is inaccessible to ships of large burden. The pier, which has been recently constructed, extends nearly half a mile in length; a light-house has been erected on it, to guard mariners against the rocks and shallows by which the navigation is endangered. About eight hundred men are employed in the fishery: the salmon and salmon trout, which are caught in abundance, are sent alive in the holds of the vessels, or packed in boxes stratified with ice, by which they are conveyed fresh to the London and other markets: a great quantity of lobsters and herrings is also found here. The annual rental of the fisheries has been estimated at £10,000, and the supply of eggs, which are sent from this place for the use of sugar refiners, has been returned as exceeding the value of £13,000 per annum. The principal branches of manufacture, exclusively of such as are connected with the shipping, are those of damask, diaper, sacking, sail-cloth, cotton, muslin'' hosiery, carpets, hats, boots, and shoes. The market, which is abundantly supplied with grain, is on Saturday; and there is a fair, for black cattle and horses, on the Friday in Trinity week; statute fairs are also held on the second Wednesday in May, the Wednesday before August 26th, and the first Wednesday in November. The government, by charter of incorporation granted in the reign of James I. is vested in a mayor, recorder, four bailiffs, and an indefinite number of burgesses, assisted by a town clerk, coroner, four serjeants at mace, and subordinate officers. The mayor, who, with the bailiffs, is elected annually at Michaelmas, the recorder, and such of the burgesses as have filled the office of mayor, are justices of the peace by virtue of their office: the freedom of the borough is inherited by birth, acquired by servitude, or obtained by gift. The corporation hold courts of quarter session and gaol delivery for the borough, and a court of pleas every alternate Tuesday, for the recovery of debts to any amount. A court leet is held under the lord of the manor, at which a high constable and six petty constables are appointed. The townhall is a spacious, handsome building, with a portico of four massive circular columns of the Tuscan order: a portion of the lower part, called the exchange, is appropriated to the use of the market; the first story contains two spacious halls, and other apartments in which the courts are held, and the public business of the corporation is transacted; and the upper part is used as a gaol: the whole forms a stately pile of fine hewn stone, and is surmounted with a lofty spire containing a peal of eight bells, which on the Sabbath day summon the inhabitants to their respective places of worship; it is inconveniently situated in the centre of the High-street, by which the thoroughfare is greatly obstructed. Berwick was one of the four Scottish burghs which anciently sent representatives to the court of the four burghs in Scotland; on being annexed to the kingdom of England, its prescriptive usages were confirmed by royal charter. It first sent representatives to the English parliament in the reign of Henry VIII., since which time, it has continued to return two members: the right of election is vested in the burgesses at large, in number about seven hundred; the mayor and bailiffs are the returning officers. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham, rated in the king's books at £20, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a handsome structure in the decorated style of English architecture; it was built during the usurpation of Cromwell, and is consequently without a steeple. There are two places of worship for Presbyterians, and one each for Particular Baptists, Burghers, Antiburghers, the Scottish relief, and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school, founded by Queen Elizabeth, is under the management of the corporation, who appoint the master; he has a salary of £80 per annum, and a house and garden, and receives ten shillings per quarter for every scholar who is not the son of a freeman. A school for the instruction of the sons of burgesses in English, Latin, and the mathematies, was founded and endowed by the corporation in 1798; to each department there is a separate master, each of whom, in addition to his salary, has a house and garden. The blue coat charity school, in which forty-two boys are clothed and educated, was founded by Captain James Bolton in 1725, and endowed with £800, since augmented by various benefactions; the master has a salary of £50 per annum. The school of industry for girls, established in 1819, is supported by the ladies of Berwick, and affords instruction to one hundred and six girls. There is also a school in connexion with the workhouse, in which about one hundred children are educated: the master has a salary of £60 per annum, which is paid out of the poors' rate. A pauper lunatic asylum was erected in 1813; and there is a dispensary, established in 1814, under the patronage of the Duke of Northumberland, which affords relief to the poor within twelve miles of the town, and is attended by four physicians, three surgeons, and a dispensing apothecary. There are some trifling remains of the castle, and a pentagonal tower near it, a square fort in Magdalene-fields, and some intrenchments on Hallidown Hill. A Benedictine nunnery is stated to have been founded by David, King of Scotland, who died in 1153; here were also monasteries of Black, Grey, White, and Trinitarian friars, besides three or four hospitals, but every vestige of them has long since disappeared. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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