Editing Berwick-upon-Tweed (section)

=== British town ===

[[File:The Barracks - geograph.org.uk - 1254528.jpg|thumbnail|The Barracks (1717–1721)]]

In 1707, the [[Acts of Union 1707|Act of Union]] united England and Scotland to create the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. Since then, Berwick has remained within the laws and legal system of [[England and Wales]]. The [[Wales and Berwick Act 1746]] (since repealed) deemed that whenever legislation referred to England, it applied to Berwick without the need for a specific reference to the town.

Until the 1830s the borough boundaries of the town were identical to the parish of Berwick, which lay entirely on the north side of the River Tweed, covering the main part of the built-up area and the rural areas immediately north-west of it. By that time, [[Tweedmouth]] on the south side of the river had grown to a sizeable population, effectively as a suburb of the town but outside the borough boundaries. Under the [[Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832]] the parliamentary borough (constituency) of Berwick was enlarged to include the townships of Tweedmouth and [[Spittal, Northumberland|Spittal]] south of the Tweed.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1832 |publisher=His Majesty's Printers |page=353 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uq0uAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA353 |access-date=8 January 2023 |chapter=2 & 3 Will 4, c. 64}}</ref> A couple of years later, the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]] standardised how boroughs were governed across England and Wales, and Berwick's municipal boundaries were enlarged to match the parliamentary borough, bringing Tweedmouth and Spittal under the jurisdiction of Berwick's town council. The same act also formalised Berwick's status as an independent [[county corporate]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Municipal Corporations (England and Wales): Appendix to the first report of the Commissioners Part III - Northern and North Midland Circuits |date=1835 |publisher=House of Commons |location=London |page=1447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3FTAAAAcAAJ&dq=report+of+the+commissioners+tweedmouth+berwick+1835&pg=PA1447 |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sewell |first1=Richard Clarke |title=Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76) |date=1835 |publisher=Butterworth |location=London |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TEZfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA181 |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref> The population of the borough in 1841 was 12,578, and that of the parish was 8,484.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol III, London, Charles Knight, 1847, p.256</ref>

In the 1840s, [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] included similar entries for Berwick-upon-Tweed in both his England and Scotland ''Topographical Dictionary''.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Berwick-upon-Tweed |title=A Topographical Dictionary of England |editor-first=Samuel |editor-last=Lewis |location=London |year=1848 |page=223 |via=British History Online |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp214-223#h3-0029 |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806130654/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp214-223#h3-0029 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Berwick-upon-Tweed |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland |editor-first=Samuel |editor-last=Lewis |location=London |year=1846 |page=124 |via=British History Online |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/scotland/pp124-151#h2-0001 |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233452/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43423#h2-0001 |url-status=live }}</ref> Berwick remained a county in its own right, and remained a separate parliamentary constituency until 1885 when it was merged to become a division of [[Northumberland]] under the [[Redistribution of Seats Act 1885]]. In 1889 elected county councils were established under the [[Local Government Act 1888]], which were based on the parliamentary boundaries of counties, and so Berwick was brought under the jurisdiction of [[Northumberland County Council]], with the town council thereafter being a lower-tier authority subordinate to the county council.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1888|year=1888|chapter=41|section=48|accessdate=9 January 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Berwick 1972.jpg|thumb|Berwick in 1972]]
England now is officially defined as "subject to any alteration of boundaries under Part IV of the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the area consisting of the counties established by section 1 of that Act, Greater London and the Isles of Scilly",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/schedule/1 |title=Schedule 1 of The Interpretation Act 1978 |work=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=5 October 2012 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311182014/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/schedule/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> which thus includes Berwick. In the 1972 act's reorganisation of English local government from 1 April 1974, the [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (borough)|Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed]] was created by the merger of the previous borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed with Belford Rural District, Glendale Rural District and [[Norham and Islandshires Rural District]].

The [[Interpretation Act 1978]] provides that in legislation passed between 1967 and 1974, "a reference to England includes Berwick upon Tweed and [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]]".

In 2009 the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed was abolished as part of [[2009 structural changes to local government in England|wider structural changes to local government in England]]. All functions previously exercised by Berwick Borough Council were transferred to [[Northumberland County Council]], which is the [[unitary authority]] for the area.