Berwick’s internationally important collection of fine & applied art was given to the town in 1949 by Sir William Burrell. Burrell was born in 1861, the son of a Glasgow shipping magnate. The family originally came from Eglingham, near Alnwick in Northumberland but they had moved to Glasgow in the 1830s.

William and his brother took over the running of the company on their father’s death in 1885. By 1917 Burrell had made enough money to retire in grand style to Hutton Castle, a few miles from Berwick, and devote himself to his first love - buying art. He had a fine eye for the best pieces and an even finer ear for a good deal.