| Summary : The medieval and Tudor fortifications of Berwick upon Tweed. The extant remains are largely Elizabethan and include: Elizabethan ramparts, bastions, gateways and earthworks; earlier medieval town defences, including the earthen mound, wall and ditch; and the Henrician artillery fort known as Lord's Mount (see record 1384391). The earlier works culminated in the original medieval walls, their modifications, and the creation of a citadel between the Great Bulwark and St Nicholas's Tower on the East side of the town. This was to built high enough to command the castle, and was to incorporate 4 angle bastions also mounting artillery. The "new" modifications to Berwick were considered inadequate for the all round task of providing defence for the town, and it was realised that a radical solution was required, culminating in the Italianate bastioned trace defences of the Elizabethan period, (record 1001865). The core of the site is in the care of English Heritage. |
More information : (NT 995 530 and NT 994 532). Town Wall.
(NT 997 535 - NU 000 534 and NU 001 531 - NU 002 527). Edwardian Defences.
(NT 996 530 - NU 000 532 - NU 002 527). Elizabethan Defences. (1)
The town walls and defences of Berwick were originated by Edward I but were reconstructed, partly on a new line, by Elizabeth I. The original defences had on approximately rectangular plan and were strengthened by small half-round towers. A castle of the same age. (see NT 95 SE 1) stood at the NW corner of the town. The reconstruction, begun in 1558, proposed a complete bastioned fortification which utilised parts of the old Medieval wall, but excluded the northern part of the town with the castle and the
southern tip of the peninsula.
The fortification between Kings Mount (NU 002 527) and Megs Mount (NT996 530) begun in 1562 was eventually abandoned and the Medieval wall continued as the only defence on the river side.
The fortifications were left incomplete in 1569 and were neglected until 1630. Further works were then carried on until the 18th century. (2)
The scheduled positions of the town defences include the Elizabethan ramparts, and the Edwardian walls from English Gate (NT 997 527) to Cow Port gate (NU 001 531). (3)
Earthworks partly revised and/or resurveyed at 1:2500. See map
diagram and illustration for details report of walls, courses of
walls, and integral components. (4)
One of the best examples in Europe of a fortified town. Medieval
walls were begun by Edward I and surrounded the town, with the castle at their North West corner. Their course is traceable, and fragments remain in the Bell Tower (base) and walling on the North side. The Elizabethan fortifications are unique in Britain, begun circa 1555 and built to the latest Italian designs. In the 1760's the medieval walls were rebuilt with gun batteries, and Coxon's Tower was rebuilt. The gates include Scotsgate (altered 1815 and 1858), Cowport (probably 1590's with C18 timber doors), Ness Gate (1816), Shore Gate (1760's with original timber doors). Scheduled AM. (5)
NT 999 530. The history of the fortification of Berwick-upon-Tweed is well-documented, and has been summarised by MacIvor in 1972 (6a). For more detailed accounts see Brown and Colvin, 1963 (6b), MacIvor, 1965 (6c), and Colvin, 1982 (6d). No attempt at a full description is made here. There have been two major building phases labelled for convenience as the Edwardian and Elizabethan Defences. In the interest of clarity the Elizabethan Defences are now recorded separately (see NT 95 SE 71).
The original 13th century town wall enclosed an area of about 57
hectares with an external moat on the landward N and E sides (see also Spades Mire - NT 95 SE 8, and Berwick Castle - NT 95 SE 1). These works were periodically strengthened and updated, notably in the early 16th century, until superseded by the Elizabethan Defences which were started in 1558. These 16th century works drastically reduced the area of the town enclosed to about 37 hectares, and ultimately incorporated that part of the Edwardian town wall around the S and SW (seaward) sides between the two demi-bastions Meg's Mount (NT 996 530) and King's Mount (NU 007 526). This, and subsequent modifications, has rendered the earlier wall almost indistinguishable from the later works in this sector. Elsewhere the Edwardian defences have been pillaged, and modern building has encroached upon their line; where visible, the town wall is buried under turf-covered earthen banks up to 4.0m high, and up to 6.0m above the base of the moat. Some masonry is, however, exposed either as blocks of consolidated core material, up to 4m high (NT 9953 5308), or at the base of modern garden walls (at NT 9945 5325). At NU 0000 5341 a wall width of 2.2m (some 2.0m above ground level) is measurable. Of the towers on the wall, the remains of only three can be identified. These are:
1) Bell Tower of which only the lower part is medieval (NT 9978 5352);
2) Middle Tower, 3.5m high (NT 9996 5347), and
3) Coxon Tower (NT 9998 5247), incorporated into the later defences.
From Meg's Mount (NT 996 530) northwards to the vicinity of the site of St Mary's Gate (NT 9950 5345), the town wall took advantage of the steep scarps above the Tweed and the E slopes of Castle Dene where no moat is necessary. Elsewhere the moat must have commenced at or near St Mary's Gate (where buildings now obscure the line), and extended around the N and E sides of the town back to the river. This area is public parkland and some landscaping, eg pathways and sports facilities, has mutilated the moat; now dry and up to 4.4m deep, much of it covered in rough grassland. As the level of its bed varies from 38m OD near the Bell Tower, to approximately
15m OD by King's Mount the moat was in effect a series of ponds
separated by banks, a number of which survive as causeways.
The town defences were periodically modified until they were superceded by the construction of the Elizabethan works. The following describes the major modifications still visible.
(1) NU 0032 5310. The Windmill Bulwark is a detached earthwork appended to the medieval fortifications in 1522-3. It survives as a turf-covered raised platform, 5.5m above the town moat, with a large depression,1.6m deep, in its centre. It is protected around the N and E sides by a ditch or moat, now dry and 2.4m deep, silted at the NE angle.
(2) NU 0008 5255. A masonry bulwark named Bulwark by the Sands (later Fisher's Fort), was added in 1522-3; this was subsequently incorporated into the Elizabethan and later defences.
(3) NT 9987 5356. In 1522-3 the NE angle of the medieval town
defences was strengthened by an earthen bulwark, to be succeeded in 1539-42 by a circular masonry fortification named Lord's Mount; this latter was excavated in 1972-3. The earthworks in this area are particularly complex; there has been a ditch or moat around the N and E sides of Lord's Mount, largely destroyed by the building of Field House and its garden improvements, and another ditch or moat occurs S of the Mount. It is unclear whether these are contemporary with the Mount or are the remains of the earlier bulwark.
(4) NU 0023 5291. The Citadel, designed to overlie and strengthen the town wall on the E, was started in 1550, but had not been completed by the end of 1557. All that can be identified now with certainty is the E ditch (or moat) projecting E from the medieval defences, together with the deformed remains of the NE and SE bastions, which stand 2.8m above the ditch. The Elizabethan Defences (started in 1558) approximately bisect the Citadel; cutting across it from N to S; the part within the 16th century walled town is occupied by gardens and allotments. It is not possible without excavation to determine the precise line of the N,S and W defences, or indeed the level of incompleteness of the Citadel from ground inspection. However the curving E walls of the gardens in Ravensdowne may preserve the general line of the Citadel on that side. Surveyed by RCHME at 1/1250. (6)
NT 998 531 - NU 001 533; NU 002 527. Elizabethan town wall. Scheduled No ND/10.
NT 994 531; NT 996 535 - NT 999 534. Portions of the Edwardian town wall. Scheduled No ND/16.
NU 000 531. Old Citadel (site of). Scheduled No ND/353. (7)
Medieval town defences including a moat and medieval/ post medeival boundary bank described above are visible as earthworks on air photographs. These features have been mapped as part of the Till-Tweed NMP project and are recorded in NU 05 SW 87/ UID 1384259. (8)
Guide to the fortifications published in 1990 (9)
The fortifications of Berwick are discussed in relation to other English towns in a report by the CBA. (10)
Accessible publication including a brief overview of the development defences. (11)
Discussion of the defences of the town in the wider context of its long term historical development. (12)
The English Heritage guide to the barracks and fortifications of Berwick published in 2011 includes a full tour and history of the fortifications, with plans, maps and historical images. There are sections o neach of the main elements of the fortifications as well as accounts of the main seiges and developments in the defences. (13) |