Wellington Terrace is one of the finest groups of houses in Berwick and is a brilliant illustration of the transition of the walls from defence to a genteel place to live.  

Made up of three houses, Wellington Terrace was built around 1815 and named in honour of the Duke of Wellington after his victory at the battle of Waterloo.

Number 1 Wellington Terrace showcases an interesting design feature. If you look closely at the panels of the door you can see that each corner is decorated with the point of a harpoon. This highlights the story of its builder and owner, John Miller Dickson.

Dickson was a merchant and ship owner, his most notable vessel being the Norfolk, a whaling boat which plied its trade out of Berwick. Whale oil was used for lamps and was obtained by boiling up strips of blubber. This was carried out in works at Spittal point. I’d imagine the scent would not have been pleasant. The Norfolk was extremely successful between 1832 and 1834 bringing back a total of 90 whales. But the following years were less so.  

In 1837 the Norfolk became trapped in ice in the David Straights in Greenland. The crew fearing for their lives. Supplies dwindled but the ship finally did escape from the ice but not before a number of her crew died.

A newspaper article from the Berwick Warder in October 1838 shows the sale of the equipment from the Norfolk, suggesting an end to Berwick’s whaling industry. The equipment included useful things like a harpoon gun, 6 whale boats, 22 blubber knives, 17 blubber spades 9 large whale jaw bones and an excellent telescope.