The Parish Church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and built by John Young of London, is one of the only two churches dating from Commonwealth times (the other being Staunton Harold in Lincolnshire). It is probably the only church in the country without a steeple or tower. Originally built in 1648 it was restored in 1855 when it was enlarged with the addition of a chancel. The materials of which it is constructed, like the Barracks and Border Bridge, were obtained from the old castle. It is quadrangular in shape and built in a simple, almost plain, style. It is a building of great architectural interest. The west doorway is flanked by two big buttresses and two turrets (dating from the nineteenth century). There are two fine arcades of semicircular arches, resting on slender round pillars. The panelled oak pulpit is Elizabethan and belonged originally to the old parish church at St. Mary's Gate. John Knox is said, by tradition, to have preached from it when in Berwick in 1548. The most valuable glass in the church is in the west window.It has twenty-five medallions of seventeenth century Flemish workmanship. This stained glass was brought from the chapel of the Duke of Buckingham at Canons Park, London.
St.Mary's Church in Castlegate was erected in 1858 is of Ashlar stone, and is in the Lancet style. It consists of a chancel, nave, transepts, north vestry and small tower. The three lancets in the east contain some fin stained glass windows, and other windows are stained.
The Roman Catholic Church, dedicated to Our Blessed Lady and St. Cuthbert, in Ravensdown, is a stone building, erected in 1829.
The Wallace Green Church (Presbyterian) was opened in June, 1859. It is a large church with seating for 1,200 persons. It contains a memorial tablet and a stained glass window in memory of the late Principal Cairns who presided at the church for over thirty years.
In the sixteenth century with the increased trade of the town the harbour mouth, always difficult to enter, was causing considerable trouble. To improve the entrance a pier was erected in 1577 at a cost of �700. By 1810 it was in a ruinous condition and it was decided to replaoe it. The work took eleven years and cost �60,000. The total length is 960 yards. A few years later,in 1826, a lighthouse was erected at the end. The lighthouse now shows a white light flashing every five seconds and is visible for twelve miles. The pier is a popular promenade and a place for watching the salmon fishing.
In 1799 we are told there were fifty-nine public houses and three coaching inns in Berwick, namely the Red Lion in the High Street, the King's Arms in Hide Hill, and the Hen and Chicken in Sandgate. The Red Lion which appears to have been the most important has now disappeared It was at the King's Arms that Dickens stayed in 1861 when he gave a reading in the Assembly Rooms attached to the hotel. Looking up Hide Hill the King's Arms Hotel "makes a fine picture. It is designed just like a typical Georgian country house". The Hen and Chicken is a substantial stone building of three storeys.
The Governor of Berwick was in charge of the garrison of the town. He resided on the Palace Green. The fine eighteenth century building is now privately owned. It is three storeys high with five bays and two-storey wings. The angle bays in front are flanked by tall pilasters. The grounds of the house now house the Wine and Spirit museum, a pottery and other tourist attractions.
In front of the Governors House is a grassed area with stone buildings now housing the local Boy Scout troup, but which was originally a Bowling Green. A cement block in the centre of the Green marks the spot where a statue to local strongman "Jimmy Strength" used to live. Legend has it that when Jimmy came to a Toll bridge riding a pony and was advised the toll was a HalfPenny for pedestrians and One Penny for mounted riders, he paid the HalfPenny and carried the pony over the bridge!
The Town Hall stands on the site of two previous tollbooths. The architects were Samuel and John Worrall, the contractors Paulson and Dods, the last of whom has his name ahove the door - "J. Dods, Architect". It is a fine example of Georgian architecture. The principal features are the portico and steeple. The former consists of four Tuscan columns supporting a handsome pediment, on which are engraved the arms of the town. The ground floor is enriched with an arcade. The steeple rises to a height of 150 feet and contains eight bells, one of which is rung as a curfew every night, except Sunday, at eight o'clock. A century ago not only did the Council meet here but the courts, police station and gaol were all in the same building. The gaol was described in the eighteenth century as "perhaps the most healthy and pleasant one in the kingdom, with excellent views of the town, the German Ocean, Bambro' Castle and Holy Island". The well preserved cells can still be seen. The chamber where the Quarter Sessions were held has been turned into fine public assembly rooms.
The Town Hall is so much more ecclesiastical in appearance than the parish church that it has often been mistaken for it. "The parish church", one writer remarks, "is a mean structure in Cromwell's time, and is without either tower or bell; and the people are summoned to divine service from the belfry of the Town Hall, which has a very respectable steeple. Indeed, so much more ecclesiastical in appearance is the Town Hall than the church, that a regiment of soldiers, on the first Sunday after their arrival at Berwick, marched to the former building for divine service although the church stood opposite the barrack-gate. A strange clergyman one Sunday morning was seen trying the Hall door and rating the absent sexton. He had become involved in the same mistake as the soldiers".
The imposing barracks were probably designed by Vanbrugh and the work carried out by A. Jelf. They were the first barracks built in Britain and were erected as a result of protests by the townspeople who had the burdensome task of billeting the soldiers. We are told that when the building was completed the Board of Ordnance had no money left for utensils and furniture. The keepers of the alehouses raised sufficient money to save having the soldiers quartered on them. It is a striking building. The massive gate-house is capped by a coat of arms and has fine ornamental iron gates. Across the courtyard is the main building, crow-gabled, with a recessed arch above the clock. Inside is a Regimental Museum. Until recently the Barracks were the joint depot of the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers making them the oldest occupied barracks in the country.
The Main Guard
This building, now at Palace Green, used to stand in Marygate, near where the bus station now stands. In 1799 it is described as follows:- "It is most incominodiously placed in the High Street, 100 yards distant from the Scotch Gate, the spot where it should have stood. It consists of a room for the officer of the guard, a large apartment in the middle of the house for the soldiers, with benches for them to lye upon. There is likewise a large fire place in it. Besides it has an apartment called the black-hole". In 1816 it was removed to the Palace Green and now is used as a museum in the summer months.
Return to Top of Page