| Abstract: |
In response to a planning condition imposed by Northumberland County Council, a programme of building recording has been carried out on a multi-phase complex of redundant buildings intended for redevelopment on the east side of Palace Street East, Berwick upon Tweed, backing onto the historic Town Walls. To accompany a written description of the buildings, photographic recording was undertaken in March 2023 by colour digital photography using a Panasonic DMC-FZ1000.All elevations were photographed, as far as possible, face-on and from a consistent height and perspective. Where possible, all record photographs included a scaled ranging pole. Where it was not possible to capture an entire elevation in a single photograph because of the constricted nature of the site, a series of partial elevations were recorded along with an oblique overall view of the full elevation. Additionally, a search was made for maps, documents and historic photographs which could shed light on the development and history of the buildings, including those of the detached huts in the rear yard. This extensive property comprises two distinct parts, both with rear wings, the southern part being a tall 18th century block (sometimes termed ‘The Mansion House’) which was extended around 1800 by the addition of its rear wing. The northern part is a mid-19th century Grammar School building which replaced an earlier-19th century house in 1866/7, and was extended to the rear in 1898. In the yard behind are further, early-20th century prefabricated structures, the eastern a re-sited World War I military hut, formerly used as classrooms. The source of the ‘1754’ date for the original house has not been traced, but it seems credible. Room 1 with its panelling and excellent ceiling, and the entrance passage, seem coeval with the building (if anything, stylistically; they could be a little earlier), but what remains of room 2 (cornice and shutters) looks much more of the early 19th century, the date of the stair and rear wing. This raises the question of where the stair was in the original house; Fuller’s 1799 map shows it as a simple rectangle in plan but the entrance passage must have led somewhere, so it maybe that the map is schematic and omits a small rear stair projection, replaced by the present wing when the house was enlarged and aggrandised perhaps around 1810. The interior of the original 18th-century building, whist damaged through its institutional use before and after the school was relocated in 1939 contains, notably in Rooms 1, 4 and the stair, features of some architectural importance which belie the brevity of its Listing description, The lack of interior detail is a serious omission from the inadequate official list description; this needs to be rectified. The lack of interior detail provided in the inadequate official Listing description is a serious omission which needs to be rectified. In addition to the extended 18th-century house and the 19th-century Grammar School-period extension to the north, a group of four sheds in the south part of the rear yard, notably including two detached early pre-fabricated buildings formerly used as classrooms, are of some significance in their own right. The Eastern Building was originally constructed on a camp near Blyth in the early years of World War I, then purchased by Berwick Education Committee in 1920 and set up on this site, while the Western Building has been identified as of 1908 construction, built to a design by Speirs and Co. These early pre-fabricated buildings, constructed on the site in the early years of the 20th century, are of historic interest with respect to their associations with the former school and, in the case of the eastern building, with World War I. |
