Berwick Heritage: seeking to preserve the vanishing beauty of Berwick

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We are a group of residents who are concerned about the erosion of Berwick's historic charm.

URGENT: Please ask the Maltings to revise their terrifyingly intrusive design. This is the most destructive plan for Berwick in decades and will permanently blight not just the familiar skyline but many, many views of our town. We cannot let this happen to beautiful Berwick and draw global derision for the utter insanity of it.

Please sign our petition. Click here for more

As a signatory of our petition puts it: "Berwick is a unique, well-preserved historic town. This Maltings proposal is appalling and unthinkable."  See more comments

20 40-foot poles are being erected all over Berwick and surrounding area. Click here for more

NEW: 3D visualisations of the new builds at 5 Palace Street East

Berwick's Heritage Under Threat Video

NEW: a revised set of plans for the old Grammar School redevelopment, 24/03631/FUL and 24/03632/LBC, are now available on the planning portal as of 2025-01-08. For the back yard, the two new buildings are almost identical to the original plans except the huge garage has been turned into a house. Our concerns are the same as before: loss of heritage assets, and more importantly, the degradation of the historic, open landscape on this section of the walls. Please see our Grammar School web page for more information, and please sign our new petition.

NEW: the hospital pods and how their impact on historic views could be mitigated.

UPDATE: the stonemason's yard car park proposal has now been WITHDRAWN for the second time. We hope that an appropriate use can now be found for the land and the stonemason's workshop, taking advantage of the historic location and wonderful views from the land for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. Thank you to all who helped make the argument against the banality of a car park. Sense has - for now - prevailed! For more details, please click here.


Three Endangered Heritage Sites

These are three of what we consider to be the most important endangered sites in Berwick at present. Do contact us with information about others.

1. The Infirmary Bell Tower

This fragment of the Victorian infirmary was saved after public outcry and a petition in 2016. As many of the petitioners pointed out, this is a landmark that is part of Berwick's heritage and must not be destroyed. However, if no use can be found for it, the NHS may yet lodge an application to demolish it. Click here for more information.

Please also see our page about the hospital pods and how their alien presence in Berwick's historic townscape might be mitigated with a change of colour.

Berwick Heritage YouTube Channel

2. The historic huts and views from the Ramparts at 5 Palace Street

We are advocating for the preservation of a WWI Army hut and a 1908 Speirs corrugated iron classroom, and avoid overdevelopment in an area solely populated by buildings between 100 and 400 years old. The current views from the walls towards Ness Street are admired and loved by tourists and residents alike, and are threatened by the possibility of houses being built in the old Grammar School yard. You can see this site from the what3words location ///stump.danger.soon, near Ness Gate.

The application was granted permission on 23rd March 2023 (see our statement), and the site sold to Michael Guthrie in 2024, who has put in similar plans. Click here for more information.

3. The Stonemason's Yard, Tweedmouth

The Stonemason's Yard at the southern end of the Old Bridge is in an aesthetically crucial area, yet Northumberland County Council applied to demolish the Victorian workshop documented in the county's heritage list, and build a car park (application now withdrawn). This would have blighted some of Berwick's most beautiful views, continued the process of destroying Tweedmouth's heritage, created traffic congestion, and removed the possibility of a more imaginative solution. Click here for more information.


Find out more about us and why Berwick needs another conservation voice.

Join our mailing list and discussion group!

Check out our Berwick Heritage Instagram account, highlighting the beauty of heritage under threat. See also our Facebook page and our YouTube channel.

Fancy some model-making? Download and make Berwick's WWI Army hut and 1908 Speirs hut in 1:120 scale.

You can listen to our heritage songs.

FAQ Resources