The Wall of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, England

The town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed is at the mouth of the river Tweed and has been a strategic location for a long time. Edward I built the first walls in the 1200s, which were strengthened by Robert the Bruce in 1318. Elizabeth I hired an Italian engineer to rebuild the walls from 1558 to 1569. They are still in fantastic shape and can easily be walked upon by visitors. The views are quite special.

Our hotel was not far from the walls and we were able to climb up and see the river easily.

View of river and family from the Elizabethan Ramparts

We followed the walls to the left, where we found a lot of buildings right on the walls. Someone was grilling and we could smell the delicious charcoal-cooked meat, even if we couldn't see it from above. We looked down from the wall and got a dirty look coming up at us! We worked our way around the walls to see the mouth of the Tweed spilling into the North Sea.

The lighthouse

More of the town across the low-tide bay

The walls snaking around the bay front

The Russian Gun is the only piece of artillery that we found on the walls. It points out to see, probably waiting for enemies to try to land.

The Russian Gun

Gun's-eye view

At the eastern end of the walls is King's Mount, a bastion with some of the old rooms still visible since the roofs fell in. Bastions were heavily fortified corners of the defensive walls, often housing the soldiers who guarded the town.

Wall path to King's Mount

Former military rooms

Over on the other side of town, we found a statue to Lady Jerningham. She was a much beloved local philanthropist. Her husband, the politician Sir Hubert Jerningham, erected the statue in her honor in 1902.

Lady Jerningham

The walls do make a complete circuit around the town but we did not walk the whole way. As usual, the children wanted to have a snack, necessitating a descent into the town for a treat. We didn't complain since we were hungry too!