Lowick, Northumberland


Lowick is a village in Northumberland, north east England. Lowick lies on the B6353 road, about south of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Anglican St John the Baptist's Parish Church dates from 1794, but a chapel was built in the 12th century by monks of Lindisfarne. The Grade II* listed Barmoor Castle, a castellated Tudor style country house is about a mile to the west of the village.

History

Lowick appears in records in 1181 as Lowich, and in 1242 as Lowyc. The Roman era Devil's Causeway passes through the village. It was used by monks travelling from Lindisfarne to Durham.
In 1851 the village had a population of 720 people, growing to 1,310 by 1891.

Geography

Lowick is on the B6353 road, about southwest of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Cornhill-on-Tweed, and to the northeast of Wooler. Impure carboniferous limestone is found in the area.

Economy

The parish of Lowick has traditionally grown barley, oats, peas, beans and turnips. Coal pits and stone quarries are in the area. There are numerous guesthouses and old farm buildings converted into cottages catering for tourists.

Landmarks

The monks of Lindisfarne built a chapel in the 12th century. The Anglican parish church dedicated to St John the Baptist dates from 1794, although its register dates from 1720 in an earlier building. The church was renovated and altered in 1887 by F. R. Wilson, a contractor for the Percy family, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland. The Scottish congregation, in existence since 1662 when it was formed by Reverend Luke Ogle, is one of the oldest non-conformist in England.
The village has two public houses, the Black Bull and the White Swan, and a village shop. Barmoor Castle, a country house about a mile to the west, was built in 1801 by Patterson of Edinburgh in the castellated Tudor style using older materials. Three storeys high, with a four-storey central porch tower and six-panelled door, with several oval-shaped rooms in the interior, it became a Grade II* listed building in 1986. Moss Hall, to the southwest along the B6525 road, is run as a B&B.