Please visit the new site at http://www.vaguelyinteresting.co.uk/?p=419
Berwick is a small
town on the Northumbrian coast occupying the northern shore of the River Tweed.
Today it lies 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border and is a peaceful tourist
town and local administrative and service centre.
This peaceful
existence belies its turbulent past as the epicentre of Anglo-Scottish
struggles. Wars, sieges, conquest and raids were Berwick’s lot for centuries.
It is estimated that the town changed hands
13 times up to 1482 when it finally reverted to English
control.
And, whilst it might
have been under English control, it was not technically a part of England until
the Reform Act of 1885 specified its inclusion. Until then, it was either
mentioned specifically in legislation (as Great Britain, Ireland and Berwick
Upon Tweed) or deemed to be included in England under the Wales and Berwick Act
1746.
A wonderful apocryphal
story emerged that, as a result of these constitutional
quirks, Berwick is still at war with Russia. The story suggests that Britain
went to war in the name of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, Ireland, Berwick-upon-Tweed
and all British Dominions. The Treaty of Paris in 1856 ended the war, but made
no mention of Berwick. This officially resulted in Berwick (population 11,000)
being pitted against the Russian Empire and subsequently the USSR.
Unfortunately, and like
so many of the best historical ‘facts’, this is not true. It was so famous a
story that it was investigated by the BBC’s Nationwide programme, and they
found that Berwick was not mentioned on either the declaration of war or the
peace treaty, and that the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 ensured any reference to
England included Berwick.
No comments:
Post a Comment