Berwick-upon-Tweed Main Guard

The Main Guard
Northumberland
The Main Guard
Type:	Guard house
Location
Grid reference:	NT99945260
Location:	55°46’0"N, 2°0’9"W
Town:	Berwick-upon-Tweed
History
	Guard house
Information
Owned by:	English Heritage

The Main Guard in Berwick-upon-Tweed in the very north of Northumberland stands on Palace Street, beside the southern rampart of the town walls. It is a Georgian guardhouse, built in 1815 to replace an earlier predecessor. This was once a building of importance, when the garrison had command of the town and its policing: the lock-up in the main guard would frequently have held malefactors, both soldiers and townsmen.

The use of the building as the town's main guardhouse has long since passed into history, and it is today in the care of English Heritage and operates as a small town museum, supported by Berwick Civic Society.

History

The Main Guard is today the only remaining one of four guardhouses that stood inside the gates of the town. The original Main Guard stood on Marygate in the town centre, and records say it stood here as early as 1682. It was rebuilt in 1743. The original building stood in front of the Town Hall, and was later moved further up Marygate, where it remained until 1815.

Guardhouses were designed to accommodate the soldiers on guard duty, provide a secure place for holding the drunk and disorderly and to enforce the curfew during the hours of darkness. It was never a grand building: the Main Guard consisted of the duty officer's room, a soldiers' room and a central lock-up, known as the "black hole".

With increased traffic through the town in 1815, this building was demolished and replaced by the current Main Guard, on Palace Green by the Saluting Battery.

The Main Guard as it stands today is the replacement built in 1815. It is identical to its predecessor in dimensions and function though different stylistically. There is a local story that the old guard house was rebuilt stone-by-stone in its new location, but this is not so.

The history of the building after 1815 is obscure, although it is believed to have been used as both a hostel and a storage depot for a local grocer.

Museum

The building is tday in the care of English Heritage, but the Berwick-upon-Tweed Civic Society coccupies it under licence. It serves as the Society's headquarters and they maintain it as museum open during the summer months. The museum is in two sections: one room is devoted to the history of the town and the other houses an annual exhibition of current interest. The Black Hole is displayed in its grimness too.

Outside links

• Berwick-upon-Tweed Barracks and Main Guard
• Main Guard - Berwick Civic Society