Berwick is full of fascinating buildings and landmarks. Bookmark this page to see a new featured building/landmark each day..
Here's your chance to find out something new about some of Berwick's historic buildings and structures. Researched and presented by local people, a new entry is added each day of Heritage Open Days to build up a gallery of structures. Select and click a tab below to reveal more.
If you have not seen Berwick Through Time 2020, you can get to it through this button:
-
10th: Berwick Barracks: 300 Years
-
11th: Stepping Through Time
-
12th: 16th Century Wall Painting
-
13th: The building that never was...
-
14th: Berwick Old Bridge Archives
-
15th: St Andrew's Church
-
16th: 14 & 16 Hide Hill
-
17th: Sea View Works at Spittal
-
18th: Tweedmouth Parish Church
-
19th: Building Nostalgia Quiz
Berwick Barracks: 300 Years
Take a journey through 300 years at Berwick Barracks, from rebellions to reuse.
Want to find out more about this iconic Berwick Building? Visit the site on 18th and 19th September, join Joe Lang online on 13th September to hear about the building’s history, or ask your burning questions to Berwick’s history heroes at Heritage Question Time.
Some of the images and videos used are not owned by the maker of this video. If you would like us to credit you, please get in touch. No profit is made from this video
Stepping Through Time
A short film exploring the history of two unusual flights of steps in Berwick.
16th Century Wall Painting from the Old Bridge Tavern
The photos show the surviving section of a late-16th century wall painting from the Old Bridge Tavern, demolished in 1963 to make way for the Bridge Street car park.
The painting was in an important first floor room in the house of Thomas Burrel, a wealthy merchant and alderman, and would originally have continued all round the room. The photos show that other work was done to the room at the same time: the fireplace opening was reduced, making it more suitable for burning coal, and a fireproof ash-pit or 'becket' was created in front of the hearth, as required by Berwick's 16th century building regulations.
The painting was almost certainly carried out by an itinerant artist inspired by the Renaissance imagery and lettering in contemporary books. The only legible panel carries the Socratic aphorism 'Wysedom and Sience, which are pure by kynde / Should not be hid in bookes, but in mynde' but others may have been less serious; a contemporary described this type of decoration as being composed 'for delight's sake... without rhyme or reason, for the greater variety you show in your invention, the more you please'.
It was rescued only at the very last minute. The restorer recalled that "the building was literally collapsing about the conservators in the delicate work of removing the mural". Although the original fireplace lintel and jambs were put aside to be displayed with the mural they were lost before this could be done; the murals are now displayed in the Museum with the fire surround from another demolished building.
For more on Bridge Street during Heritage Open Days, view the Bridge Street Revealed posters in shop windows and try the quiz. On Thursday 16th September there will be a talk on the early history of the street and quayside; Click this LINK ==> Bridge Street Revealed: from Beach to Quayside Market
The Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has this report on the demolition in 1962 of another of Berwick's historic houses: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/110766#page/465/mode/1up (This will take you outside the Heritage Open Days site)
The building that never was in Golden Square
In the autumn of 1937, rumours circulated in Berwick that plans were afoot to build a new cinema on the site of the former Corporation Academy, the building on the corner of Bankhill and Golden Square now known as The Leaping Salmon. After some initial denials, planning applications for the new building were duly submitted, and in January 1938 these were approved by Berwick Town Council under its local building regulations.
Berwick Old Bridge Archives
Berwick Bridge, or the Old Bridge as it is known by local people, is an impressive structure which spans the River Tweed. Built of sandstone, it consists of 15 arches, is 355 metres long and the 6th pier from the Berwick side originally formed the border between Berwick and North Durham / Northumberland. Why was the bridge built and what is its history ?
(this will take you to Northumberland Archives website)
St Andrew's Church, Wallace Green
The Most Handsome Business Premises in the Town
A brief history 14 and 16 Hide Hill, Berwick upon Tweed, 1865 – 2020
Superintendent John Garden of Berwick Borough Police noted in his General Scroll Book that sometime between the 3 December 1873 and 3 January 1874, a flock mattress, three feet broad and six feet in length, was stolen from the shop of James Purves, Cabinet Maker, Hide Hill; a copy of the pattern could be seen in the Police Station. Scroll books were used by the Police Officers to record complaints and crimes.
Why did it take so long for the mattress to be missed and how did someone manage to walk out with it, unnoticed? While no more has been found relating to the stolen mattress, much has to come to light about the property from which it was stolen, Number 14 Hide Hill, and its owners and/or occupiers.
Sea View Works at Spittal
The Sea View Works at Spittal presently occupied by Martins Printers, were built in the early 1850s by Thomas Black & Sons, who already had a well established business at Ford Forge, producing spades and various other agricultural machinery. The business was established at that time at the site of the present Heatherslaw Railway
Tweedmouth Parish Church – 1350 years of History
Nestled amidst trees near the river, the Tweedmouth Parish Church of St Boisil and St Bartholomew may be the earliest founded church in the area.
Join Phil Rowett as he explores the church, the graveyard, and some of its occupants.
Visit this listed building with interesting features and a churchyard with some notable burials. View a small exhibition and browse through transcripts of the 18th and 19th-century parish registers.
Tweedmouth Parish Church, Church Road, Tweedmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, TD15 2AJ
Event Times: Saturday 18 September: 11:00 - 16:00
Booking Details: No booking required
COVID-19 Considerations: This event will run in line with local & national government guidelines at the time of the festival.
Additional Information:
Contact for the day: Berwick HODS Team - 07966323231
www.berwickhods.org.uk
www.potss.co.uk/tweedmouth.html
Berwick Buildings Nostalgia Quiz
What does this building look like today?
Round 2 of our Berwick Then and Now Quiz investigates the more recent history of Berwick through a series of photographs taken in 2009 and 2010. You may not think much has changed in the town over the last decade but this quiz will provoke some unexpected nostalgia and restore your faith in our modern high street.
