HODS 23 The Main Guard

Step back in time and find out about Berwick in the past through our permanent and summer exhibitions. This year’s main exhibition is “Salmon Fishing on the Tweed “, a history of net fishing which is disappearing.

In 1682 a Main Guard building stood in front of the Town Hall. By 1725, it had moved up Marygate to a site opposite Eastern Lane. However, complaints about its location led to a new Main Guard being built in 1743 in the area in front of the former Berwick Advertiser offices at the top of Marygate. It was then dismantled in 1815 and rebuilt on its present site in Palace Green. It contains two main rooms, one for the officer of the guard and the other for soldiers. Between them is a prison cell or “black hole” where drunks and vagrants could be locked up. The Main Guard is now the headquarters of the Berwick Civic Society and houses various exhibitions and activities for children. This year’s exhibition follows the history of net fishing on the River Tweed from its earliest days in the medieval period to the present, with very few net fisheries now operating.