REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1908 253 



which a more detailed account may be found in his "Official 

 Guide to the Fortifications" (Grieve: Berwick on Tweed, 

 1907). In any review of the defences erected for the safe- 

 guarding of the town, it is necessary to remember that prior 

 to 1296 Berwick had no defences worthy of mention, except 

 its ancient Castle, which occupied to a large extent the site of 

 the present North British Eailway Station and its surroundings. 

 Shortly after the capture of the town by Edward I. a moat 

 or ditch, still known as the Edwardian Fosse, originally 

 80 feet broad and 40 feet deep, was excavated on the North 

 side, from the outworks of the Castle to near the mouth 

 of the river, enclosing the North and East sides of the town. 



A wall, varying from 15 to 22 feet in height, 

 Edwardian with numerous intervening towers, was also 

 Wallu begun, completed by Edward II., and much 



improved and strengthened by King Robert 

 the Bruce during the Scottish occupancy of Berwick after 

 Bannockburn (1314). That wall, two and a half miles in 

 circuit, enclosed the whole town, from the Castle, round by 

 the Tweed, to the Castle again. There remain, at this day, 

 only a very few and occasional fragments of it, as it was 

 demolished to aid in the erection of the Elizabethan Fortifi- 

 cations (1558 onwards). Conspicuous among these fragments 

 is the Bell Tower — a well known landmark ; though it must 

 be conceded that the present octagonal structure is not tlie 

 original Beacon Tower, but its Tudor representative. The 

 Edwardian Tower was circular, and its base is still visible 

 inside. One Edwardian Tower yet remains virtually intact, 

 though much defaced — the Black Watch Tower, immediately 

 below the Soldiers' Married Quarters on the river-side. 



The great feature of interest in the Elizabethan Fortifications 



of Berwick is that they are the only extant 

 Elizabethan example of the original 16th century Italian 

 Wall. Bastion and Curtain style of fortification, which, 



to cope with the rise of gunpowder and ar- 

 tillery, succeeded ancient walls of the Edwardian type. Queen 

 Elizabeth's estimate of the strategic importance of the Border 

 town, and her determination to render it impregnable, may 

 be inferred from her declaration that it was "the very Key 

 of her Realm." Couse^ueatly, with the aasistanoe of Italian 



