Main Guard Museum

About the museum

The Main Guard is the only one of four guardhouses that once stood inside the gates of Berwick-upon-Tweed to survive. A guardhouse is recorded on Marygate as early as 1682, and the building seen today dates from 1743. It stood in front of the town hall and was later moved up Marygate; in 1815, because of traffic congestion, it was moved to its present site on Palace Green. Its use after that is poorly recorded, but it is thought to have served as a hostel and as a storage depot for a local grocer.

Guardhouses housed the soldiers on guard duty, provided a secure place for the drunk and disorderly and enforced the curfew at night. The Main Guard has a soldiers' room, a slightly more comfortable officers' room and a prison cell known as the black hole. The building now belongs to English Heritage and is licensed to the Berwick-upon-Tweed Civic Society, which uses it as its headquarters and runs it as a museum.

The museum has two sections: one room tells the history of the town, which changed hands between England and Scotland thirteen times between 1296 and 1482 and has Elizabethan ramparts that survive almost intact, and the other holds a changing exhibition on a local theme. A selection of publications on the history of the town and its fortifications is on sale. The museum is staffed by volunteers.

Highlights

• Exhibition on Berwick's history as a fortified border town
• Changing annual exhibition on a local theme
• Soldiers' room, officers' room and the 'black hole' cell
• Books on the town and its fortifications

Permanent exhibition

• The history of Berwick-upon-Tweed – One room tells the story of the fortified border town, whose control passed between England and Scotland many times and whose Elizabethan ramparts survive.

Operated by

Berwick-upon-Tweed Civic Society (building owned by English Heritage)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission is free; donations are welcome in the collection boxes.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on Palace Street, a short walk from Berwick Barracks. What3words: gently.shuts.crib.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Publications on the history of Berwick and its fortifications are on sale.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.