Wark on Tweed

"in the same county"Wark on Tweed (usually referred to simply as Wark) is a village in the English county of Northumberland.

It is on the south bank of the River Tweed that can be considered the border between England and Scotland. It forms part of the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed, despite being more than 15 miles upstream of the town that gives the borough its name.

The ruins of Wark on Tweed castle, originally an early 12th century motte-and-bailey, lie at the west end of the village. The castle (alternatively referred to as Carham Castle) was strategically important in the wars between Scotland and England, as the border cuts south from the Tweed not far upstream. The view of Wark for the Scottish and English was therefore uncomfortably or conveniently, respectivly, close to Roxburgh, and a good base for English advances into Tweedale. It was demolished and rebuilt on several occasions between the 12th and 16th centuries. It is one of a number of supposed locations for the garter incident behind the naming of the Order of the Garter

External links

* [http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/Motte%26Bailleytraces.html Images of Wark on Tweed Castle and other M & B Castle sites in Northumberland]
* [http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/warkcastle.htm brief account]
* [http://www.coldstream-scotland.co.uk/history_wark_castle.html potted history]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/2455.html links, bibliography & further reading]
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