Berwick Town Wall , Spades Mire and Lord's Mount

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Ditches; Cowgate; Scotsgate; Bell Tower; Shore Gate

In the civil parish of Berwick upon Tweed.
In the historic county of Berwick upon Tweed (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Town Walls commenced by Edward I, with no remains for that period, and then completely remodelled for artillery defence with angle earthern and stone rampart from 1558 onwards. The Elizabethan ramparts with their bastions, gateways and earthworks survive. Spades Mire is an earthwork linear ditches, possibly forming an outer line of defence for medieval Berwick. Evidence suggests that the earthwork is earlier than the late C13 and early C14 defences of Berwick upon Tweed. The earthwork survives as a pronounced linear ditch 672m long ranging from 10m to 25m wide and from 0.9m to 3m deep. Situated on the south side of the ditch are traces of an accompanying rampart, now much spread and up to 13m wide. The earlier works culminated in the original mediaeval walls, their modifications, and the creation of a citadel between the Great Bulwark and St Nicholas's Tower on the East side of the town. This was to built high enough to command the castle, and was to incorporate 4 angle bastions also mounting artillery. Although constructed, the new modifications to Berwick were inadequate for the all round task of providing defence for the town, and it was realised that a radical solution was required, culminating in the Italianate bastioned trace defences of the Elizabethan period.
The Lord's Mount is a massive curved stone bulwark which was built in the 1540s to protect the town walls at their weakest point. An earth bulwark had been built in front of the medieval bell tower in 1522, overlooking the long bank and ditch in the fields to the north of the walls, later recut and known as 'Spades Mire'. By 1539, however, the bulwark needed to "be made smaller so that fewer men could guard...where the walls were weakest". The construction of Lord's Mount marked a small but significant step in the development of military architecture. It has six vaulted gun casements, each with expense magazines in the side walls, and smoke vents. The sills of the casemates originally had pin holes for swivel guns, which were later replaced by guns on simple carriages. There was once a kitchen here, and the remains of the fireplace can still be seen. The upper floor also has gun embrasures, but it was used principally for accommodation, with an upper gun deck behind a parapet.

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence
Artillery Fort.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 237250, 237328, 237349, 237361, 409271, 409272, 409236, 239118)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT998524

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 4160, 4261, 1001865, 6574, 6577, 4175, 1384391

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N2426, N4138, N4148

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/75/berwickramparts.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/75/belltower.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/75/lordsmount.htm
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N2426
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N4138
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N4148
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.421
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 75, 78, 97, 99, 175, 22, 247, 270
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p176-7
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p12-14
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p362
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p613-664
    MacIvor, I., 1981, ‘Artillery and major places of strength in the Lothians and the east border, 1513-1542' in Caldwell, H. (ed), Scottish Weapons und Fortifications 1100-1800 (Donald) p94-152
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p63-7
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p563-571
    Scott, 1888, Berwick-upon-Tweed (London) p29, 133, 141-2
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p343-7
• Journal Articles
  • Paterson,Caroline, 2000, 'The Bell Tower at Berwick-upon-Tweed' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol28 p163-75
    Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p222-5
    MacIvor, I., 1976, 'The fortifications, Berwick-upon-Tweed' Archaeological Journal Vol133 p182-4
    MacIvor, I., 1965. 'The Elizabethan Fortifications of Berwick upon Tweed.' Antiquaries Journal Vol45 p64-96
    White, K.G., 1962-3, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Vol96 p355-60
    Forster, 1907, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol13 p97
    1892-3, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol14 p177-82 [survey of 1535-6
• Guidebooks
  • Grove, Doreen, 1999, Berwick Barracks and Fortifications (English Heritage)
    MacIvor, Iain, 1990, The fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed (English Heritage)
    MacIvor, Iain, 1972, The fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed (HMSO)
    MacIvor, Iain, 1965, The fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed (HMSO)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities2.htm]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb29]