A Berwick Borough Surveyor (Twixt Thistle and Rose)

It’s a popular belief that the older the record the more interesting it is – but records from any era can contain unique information that conjures up the times in which they were written.


Last week, as I was looking through some of the Urban Sanitary Authority records, I came across a rather plain notebook [Reference LB 27/2]. This outwardly prosaic book begins with detailed, handwritten water usage charts and is described in the Archives handlist as “An analysis of water supplies 1899-1944 (also contains an Old Bridge road traffic census of 1922)”. This is an accurate description of a large part of the book but, on inspection, it contains much more. It is a fascinating Day Book – a bit like Project Managers diary – that draws you into the mind of the writer with every turn of the page.

Traffic Census on the old bridge, Berwick-upon-Tweed 1922

The Urban Sanitary Authority was the product of a series of Public Health Acts in the first half of the nineteenth century that were passed to control and combat deadly diseases such as Cholera. Many of the statutory duties of the Urban Sanitary Authority eventually passed to the Town Council as clean streets, good housing and plentiful, pure water became the standard measures of civilization.

The Council Buildings on Wallace Green that were originally converted for the Urban Sanitary Authority


The Tweed is tidal and its water saline so Berwick, throughout its history (and as the records testify), was reliant on wells for its water supply. Ensuring water was fit to drink was a common concern. On establishing the Urban Sanitary Authority responsibility fell upon the Borough Surveyor and the Inspector of Nuisances to identify or create healthy water sources and to ensure that they were kept free of contaminants.

Excavation tables, 1914

When I began to leaf through the pages of this volume I quickly noticed the writer was a skilled draughtsman who also liked to record informal notes about the works being undertaken. I had the sense that this was someone who took pride in and enjoyed his work. As a result, I wanted to know more about him. His technical drawings have an accomplished artistry that put me in mind of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. It’s pure speculation, but the first comprehensive translation of those Notebooks was by Richter in 1888. I wondered if the Borough Surveyor might have seen them as a young man and felt he was part of a long line of inventors and engineers. Archives can be dangerously thought provoking!

Notes on the Spa Well, Spittal whose source had changed course in 1919

The notebook is almost entirely the work of Robert Dickinson, Borough Surveyor from 1890-1929. There is an oil painting of him (seated at a desk with a notebook) by the artist Frank Watson Wood in Berwick Town Hall .

Settling wells at Bondington, Castle Terrace

He was a local boy, a son of Robert Dickinson, a boot and shoemaker from Tweedmouth, and his Scottish wife Lillias. I found the family in the 1871 census living in Marygate. In 1881 the family had moved to 26 Castlegate. Robert was 19 and is described as a Town Surveyors Assistant – already pursuing his future career. He is Town Surveyor in 1891 and living with his wife, Margaret, at 46 Ravensdowne. Ten years later, a widower, he lives at 6 Wallace Green – opposite the Urban Sanitary Authority buildings. His colleague, the Inspector of Nuisances, also lived in the same street! Robert was there still in 1911, seems to have retired about 1930 and died, in Berwick in 1951 aged 89.

Drainage at 20 Hide Hill

The book is mainly concerned with the works he commissioned or managed (some examples are included above) but he peppers it with facts prompted by curiosity or conversations. This includes a note that the specification for works was altered to preserve a Hart’s Tongue Fern found growing on the ramparts. He takes care to write down the botanical name of the fern – Scotopendrium Vulgaro – as given to him by Captain Norman.

Harts Tongue Fern protected

Robert also copies extracts from academic journals on geology, colleagues findings from surveys and estimations and a list and planting plan of the roses outside the Urban Sanitary Authority buildings in Wallace Green. He makes a sketch of the timber structure underneath the plaster finish in his office and makes notes on an the removal of an old dolphin recovered from the river.

Rose planting scheme, 1921

He is also interested in people  – keeping lists of workmen employed and information about the introduction of the old age pension. He makes notes on those working in the Surveyors office – including some who joined up to fight in the Great War. The effects of war on prices, labour supply and so on are also recorded.

Thomas Evans – employment, wages and war record
Cover of a Wartime leaflet on the price of smithy work in the Berwick area
War Savings Shell erected near Scotsgate, 1920

This volume shows that a record has many layers – the information it contains, the person who created it, why they created it and why it was retained. A full description of content and context is essential when it is catalogued to make it available for the widest range of research.

Register of workmen

It would be fascinating to compare five centuries of civil engineering in Berwick and there is plenty in the collection to research this aspect of Berwick’s history. Robert Dickinson is just one in a long line of inspectors, surveyors and workmen striving to ensure Berwick functioned as a prosperous and healthy place. The Guild, through their Works Committee, carried out many improvements before the Urban Sanitary Authority existed. This last drawing refers to an old dolphin that was removed in the time of Robert Dickinson. Much earlier records also refer to the protection of the Quay and old Bridge by the placement and replacement of such defensive structures in the river.

Remnants of former Berwick Bridge, 1905

Robert’s work is also recorded in a series of records that were part of the Urban Sanitary Authority collection (summarized in the 1978 Handlist – E 1-30). Intriguingly, in volume E 7/1, there is a typescript report on road widening in 1912 at the junction of Chapel Street and Walkergate. It is signed by Robert Dickinson and it refers to the reconstruction of the Rose and Thistle Public House. If it is where we think it is (the present Cobbled Yard Hotel) – I am sitting opposite it as I write. More about that in a later post perhaps!

Twixt Thistle and Rose Project

Cover of a guide to Berwick upon Tweed featuring an embossed rose and thistle and the text Twixt Rose and Thistle

RE-CATALOGUING THE BERWICK-UPON-TWEED BOROUGH ARCHIVES

Twixt Thistle and Rose is an Archives Revealed funded Project to re-catalogue the Borough Archives with additional deposited material. The National Archives in partnership with the Pilgrim Trust has started a programme of awarding cataloguing grants through the Archives Revealed scheme and this project was one of only 9 chosen from over 80 applications. This is a new initiative so Berwick is one of the first beneficiaries.

The project relates to the records of the administrative or governing bodies of the town that are held at the Berwick Record Office –  part of Northumberland Archives. With the exception of the Charters, these date from the early sixteenth century up to 1974 when local government re-organisation led to the creation of a larger District Council.

Extract from Charter of Mary I, 25 April 1554 (Ref: BA/A6)

In the late 1970’s the District Council, with assistance from the Northumberland Record Office, organised and listed the borough records and created the Handlist of the Archives of the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed that is still used today to access the collection. It has been much amended, re-organised and expanded over the last forty years.

Title page of the 1978 catalogue of Berwick Archives

PROJECT AIMS

Berwick’s records have been very well used over the years but until now the handlist and supplementary lists have not been available online.  The main aim of the project is to provide an electronic catalogue that will bring all the finding aids together and encourage as diverse as possible use of the records in future.  The new catalogue will include all previous catalogue and location references so past researchers can be assured they will be able to match any references they have to the new ones. The Berwick Record Office has benefited from a very dedicated group of volunteers who transcribe and index the records under guidance of the Berwick Archivist. They research and link this information to other source material where possible. So, the task of creating purposeful content for the electronic catalogue is already well established.

Berwick is a Border town and was at times during the mediaeval period a Royal Burgh of Scotland – one of the Court of Four Burghs along with Edinburgh, Roxburgh and Stirling. Ownership of Berwick passed back and forth until it was finally ceded to England in 1482 where it has remained ever since. As part of the project we will be looking, in the sixteenth century records in particular, for any vestiges of that Scottish heritage in the style of record keeping.

Extract from rules for the Garrison and Town of Berwick 1560-1577 (Ref: BA/B7/8)

WHO IS INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT?

The Berwick Archivist is managing the project and has appointed a Cataloguing Archivist to work exclusively on the project for one year from 7th January 2019. A key task will be to look for opportunities for existing and new volunteers to become involved in the re-cataloguing project. There will be more about this aspect of the project in later posts. Volunteers will receive training and the Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild of Freeman and Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives have kindly agreed to provide funding for volunteer and outreach activities.

The project has a Steering Group that includes representatives from The Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild of Freemen, The Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives, Northumberland Archives and Northumberland County Council. The Chair is a representative of the Berwick Civic Society. The group meets bi-monthly to receive reports from the project archivist, agree key steps and monitor progress.

GETTING STARTED

The first task is to agree the classes of information that will form the structure of the catalogue. It must meet cataloguing standards and make searching meaningful and easy for anyone who is interested in the fascinating history of Berwick.

The Handlist with it’s many sections is the starting point …

When the classification is agreed by the Steering Group in February it will be all hands to the deck cataloguing, conserving and, with any luck, uncovering the occasional hidden gem!

This is our first post and we hope that it explains what we aim to achieve. Look out for further posts on our project and the hidden gems we uncover.