| Summary : Later phases of Berwick town defences built between 1558 and 1570, last used as a defence in the mid 18th century survive as upstanding structures. The rebuilding was initially begun under Mary I, prompted by the loss of Calais and the realisation that the existing medieval fortifications were now inadequate against a "modern" army equipped with seige artillery. Building continued under Elizabeth I. The fortifications were the work of military engineers Sir Richard Lee and Giovanni Portinari, who were often in conflict over their design. Portinari saw to it that an extra ditch rampart and bulwark were added to cut off the peninsula from attack, restricting the options of potential attackers to a land assault from the north. Due to the expense the building work stoped in 1570 with some elements still unfinished. The resulting fortifications however still represented a modern artilliery fortress enclosing two thirds of the town. It featured a curtain wall and broad flat ditch on the north and east sides, with bastions at the salient angles and half-bastions at the ends. The new walls were of a low progile and utilses earth ramparts to counter the effects of artilliery. Along the west and south sides the defences were comprised by the repaired and improved medieval walls. The northern part of the town was now outside of the core defences and some buildings there were actually demolished to create a better field of fire for the defending artiliery. |
More information : (NT 9962 5302) Megs Mount Bastion (LB)
(NT 9981 5323) Cumberland Bastion (LB)
(NT 999 532) The Ditches (LB)
(NT 9968 5306) Scotsgate (LB)
(NU 0004 5332) Brass Bastion (LB)
(NU 0024 5303) Windmill Bastion (LB)
(NU 0022 5272) King's Mount (LB)
(NU 0012 5316) Cow Port Gate (LB) (1a)
The Edwardian and the Elizabethan Defences were grouped together by OS and the NMR under NT 95 SE 3; in the interest of clarity they are now separated. The history of the fortifications of Berwick is well-documented, and is summarized by MacIvor (1b). For more detailed accounts see Brown and Colvin, 1963 (1c), MacIvor, 1965 (1d), and Colvin1982 (1e). No attempt at a full architectural description of the individual elements is made here.
The Elizabethan Defences, commenced in 1558, drastically reduced the area enclosed from the original 57 hectares to about 37 hectares; the circuit of the wall, incorporating part of the medieval town wall around the S and SE (seaward) sides, is complete. It was to be further defended in the N and E by a moat, but this was never completed, and the planned counterscarp retaining wall was never begun. In 1565 a traverse (see NU 05 SW 7) was constructed from just S of Brass Bastion to the sea where it ended in an earthwork redoubt
(see NU 05 SW 8).
In 1639-53 an earthwork parapet was raised on the sentry path right round the Elizabethan ramparts and cavaliers were raised on the bastions. The defences were repaired and modified in detail in the mid-18th century. The end of Berwick as a fortified town is marked by the enlargement of Scotsgate and the insertion of Ness Gate in 1815-6. The Elizabethan fortifications were subsequently incorporated into town parkland, and the building of paths on the summit of the ramparts and bastions, and in the moat, has damaged some of the earthworks. The fortifications were surveyed by RCHME at 1:1250 scale. (1-6)
The post medieval town defences of Berwick are visible as structures on air photographs centred at NT 9962 5302. The defences are as described by authority 1 above. The defences consist of a series of ramparts linking four bastions and King's Mount. On the western side the defences consist of the medieval town walls. (7)
Re-edition of the guidebook to the fortifications, published 1990. (8)
Accessible publication, including brief overview of the development of the defences. (9)
Discussion of the defences in the context of the wider development of the town as part of aseries on informed conservation. (10)
The English Heritage guide to the barracks and fortifications of Berwick published in 2011 includes a full tour and history of the fortifications, with plans, maps and historical images. There are sections on each of the main elements of the fortifications as well as accounts of the main seiges and developments in the defences, including a section on the later defences and the role of the military engineers Sir Richard Lee and Giovanni Portinari. By the middle of the 16th century the old walls and, from the perspective of providing artilliery fire, poorly sited Castle were inadequate to withstand a modern army equiiped with seige artillery. Prompted by the loss of Calais to the French in 1558, Lee was initially tasked by Mary I with redesigning the defences of Berwick. he had previous experience in rebuilding defences at Calais and Boulogne. His radical solution was to surround a smaller area rather than follow the circuit of the old walls, using a "modern" angle bastion system instead of towers, with low profile walls and earthern ramparts to offset the effect of artilliery and to provide for defensive artilliery fire from the town. The rebuilding continued under Elizabeth I with greater financial constraints and was often in fact delegated to Lee's assistant Rowland Johnson. Further problems came when in 1560 the crown appointed an Italian engineer called Giovanni Portinari to work with Lee. The two engineers disagreed over both major principles of the defence plans (such as Lee's plan not to fortify all of the Berwick peninsula) and also over details such as the design of the bastions. Portinari used his incluence to have an additional earthwork ditch and rampart known as the Traverse to be built between Brass Bastion and the sea (with a bulwark by the sea end). The intention of this element was to cut off the Peninsula from attack from that quarter- forcing potential attackers to make a land assault from the north. The two worked uneasily together until 1566. Due to the cost, the building programme petered out in 1570 with some elements of the defences still unfinished. These missing elements included an outer wall for the main ditch and extra outer defences, dams to allow ditches to be filled with water and some parapets for the main walls. The resulting fortifications however still represented a modern artilliery fortress enclosing two thirds of the town. It featured a curtain wall and broad flat ditch on the north and east sides, with bastians at the salient angles and half-bastions at the ends. Along the west and south sides the defences were comprised by the repaired and improved medieval walls. The northern part of the town was now outside of the core defences and some buildings there were actually demolished to create a better field of fire for the defending artiliery. (11) |