Berwick upon Tweed

Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland is the northernmost town in England, located where the River Tweed flows into the North Sea. It was much fought over during the Anglo-Scottish wars of the Middle Ages, changing hands thirteen times between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, and finally coming under English control in 1482. Queen Elizabeth I had the walls of Berwick rebuilt to the most modern standards, and these walls form one of the finest monuments of sixteenth century military engineering in northern Europe. Medieval Berwick had been Scotland's richest port, and under English rule it was also to become a prosperous trading centre, exporting wheat from its agricultural hinterland, eggs, and salmon from the rich waters of the Tweed. Berwick 'proper' lies north of the River Tweed, and its suburbs of Tweedmouth and Spittal lie south of the river.

Berwick's medieval castle, which lay outside the later Elizabethan walls, was largely demolished when the Edinburgh-Newcastle railway was built through the town in the late 1840s; only a few fragments remain.