Berwick Town Walls.

Start. Berwick-Upon-Tweed (Parade car park).

Route. Berwick-Upon-Tweed (Parade car park) - Church Street - East Lane - West Wynd - West Street - Bridge Street - Berwick Town Walls - Bridge Terrace - Shortgate - Main Guard Museum - Coxon's Tower - Fishers Fort (Plommer's Tower) - Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks - Cowport Gate - Marygate - Meg's Mount - Bank Hill - Marygate - Walkergate - Parade car park.

Notes. Berwick-Upon-Tweed located on the border between England and Scotland bares testament to a violent and bloody past. Elizabethan walls and ruined castles dominate the town, old prison cells of the Town Hall and narrow windings, cobbled streets all hold a complex and brutal history, today it’s a far nicer place. We arrived late so took the opportunity for a short but interesting walk with the ghosts of the past, a short wander around the 450 year old town walls, the only example of bastioned town walls in Britain and one of the best preserved examples in Europe.

We parked in Parade car park near Berwick-Upon-Tween Barracks, via Church Street, East Lane and East Wynd and West Street we made our way to Bridge End where we accessed the walls. Above the Old Quay we wandered passed rows of Georgian town houses, we strolled past the Main Guard Museum, and a row of stunning apartments numbers 1,2,3 Wellington Terrace. Next came Coxton’s Tower opposite which stood The Old Whaling House, a reminder of Berwick’s more recent past.

Greeted by the Russian Gun, a fine cannon at Fisher’s Fort we continued straight on over Pier Road and onto more fortifications, as we ascended Kings Mount (16th century defenses), we passed the local allotments, followed by what was once a gunpowder store then the massive Berwick Barracks, the oldest in England. Our route continued passed Berwick Parish Church (next to which we’d parked) then over Marygate where you get a stunning view of the historic Town Hall. Next came Meg’s Mount with super views over the river, we then descended to the Royal Tweed Bridge, it was time to pick our way back to the car, which we did through fast fading light via Marygate and Walkergate.

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home.

Seen from the shadow of the Quay Walls Berwick's Bridges, the lower of the trio is the 15 arched Berwick Bridge or Old Bridge, built across the River Tweed between 1611 and 1624, we'll come to the others later.

Bridge Terrace.

The Main Guard Museum, this fine 18th century Guard House used to be in Marygate, it was moved here in 1815.

Seen from the fine buildings of Wellington Terrace Coxon's Tower, one of two remaining original medieval towers on the walls, although it does have 16th and 18th century embellishments.

Views over the mouth of the River Tweed.

A glimpse into the not so distant past, The Old Whaling House.

Looking to Fisher's Fort beyond which can be seen the houses off Pier Road.

The Russion Gun overlooks the mouth of the river from Plommers Tower (Fisher's Fort), at one time there was six guarding the entrance to the harbour.

Berwick Barracks the oldest in Britain, construction begun in 1717 two years after the failed Jacobite rebellion.

Brass Bastion.

From the town walls views down Marygate, with the Town Hall dominating the scene.

The Royal Tweed Bridge as seen from Meg's Mount, the newest of the three bridges built between 1925 and 1928 connecting Berwick-Upon-Tween to Tweedmouth.

The Victorians knew how to impress, the Royal Border Bridge sometimes called the Tweed Viaduct spans the river and valley, 28 arches carries the East Coast Main Line, built between 1847 and 1850.

Across the river Tweedmouth.

View taken over the rooftops of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, where the Town Hall always dominates the scene.

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