The Arts In Berwick -- Legends
The 'War' with Russia

The one thing everybody knows about Berwick is that it is still at war with Russia.

According to the legend, this began because Berwick, being officially of the kingdom of England, but not in it, was always mentioned separately in laws and proclamations. The Crimean War was declared on behalf of Britain and Berwick, but, so the story still goes, the Peace of Paris in 1856 missed out Berwick.

'Peterborough' in The Daily Telgraph in December 1935 recorded it was in October 1914 that the British Foreign Office hastily signed a peace treaty with Tsarist Russia tidying up this oversight. Unfortunately this was not true, the Foreign Office consulted in the 1930s and in 1965 could find no trace of this 'treaty.' Also, the documents relating to the declaration and peace do not separately mention Berwick, because by the Wales and Berwick Act of 1746 all references to England in Acts of Parliament were deemed to include Berwick, and Wales.

But the story still persists, as only a good urban legend can, and Berwickers would not have it any other way.

Click here to return to the legends page