Newark On Trent History
For some fantastic Videos on Newark through the ages, from Stone Age to Tudor and Early Stuart, please see HERE
Prehistoric Beginnings
Newark-on-Trent's history stretches back to prehistoric times, with evidence of human activity dating back 14,000 years. Palaeolithic flint scatters found at Farndon Fields suggest that early humans used the area as a camp for processing their kills, such as wild horses and red deer migrating across the River Trent
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Ancient Discoveries
Recent archaeological digs at Middlebeck by Oxford Archaeology uncovered a henge monument and 73 Roman kilns, marking the site as a nationally important pottery production center dating back to around 3,300 BC
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Roman Era
We don't know Newark's name during this period. Whilst a 4th century itinerary records the names of the fortified towns along the Fosse Way, Margidunum (Bingham), Ad Pontem (East Stoke/Thorpe) and Crococolana (Brough) and the fact they were 14 miles apart, a settlement at Newark is never named. From archaeological evidence the settlement was on Northgate in the area of Northgate Retail Park. Many artefacts were found when building the Warwick & Richardson Brewery buildings back in the 1880s and more Roman foundations were found on the other side of the brewery where Marks & Spencers etc are now ahead of construction work starting there. There is no evidence of a Roman influence on the layout of the town however. It was a small settlement ideally situated between the Fosse Way and the River Trent, but too far from the town that was eventually to become Newark
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Saxon and Medieval Periods
The creation of a new burgh, as fortified towns were called, at Newark secured an important strategic position. The Neue Werk or New Work was coined to describe a new defensive work. Although the Old Work has not been firmly located there are suggestions that an Ald Wark was noted on ancient maps not far from Newark towards Farndon. Another possibility is that Southwell may have been the Old Work, but this is far from certain. It is possible to suggest a number of dates for this, ranging from 918 – c, 954. The best clue at present is a coin of King Edwy which is claimed to have a mint mark representing Newark. Edwy died in 957. It is believed that the Anglo-Saxon burh was focused on the castle site and was enclosed by Kirk Gate, Middle Gate and Stodman Street. Excavations in and around the Market Place have revealed a lack of Anglo-Saxon objects, which support this theory.
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There was an extensive early AS pagan cremation cemetery on Millgate, where Southfield House is today, where as early as 1724 William Stukeley recorded 4 cremation urns being found. In the 1960s over 300 were excavated and most are currently in the civil war museum store. The decoration is very similar to pots found in Northern Germany/Southern Denmark suggesting it was the Angles who settled in this area. A later Christian burial ground of over 100 burials was excavated in the grounds of Newark Castle in the 1990s. This ties in with the river gravel terrace of what became the castle being at the centre of the Burh.
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The most distinctive echo of this period is in the street names of Newark with its many gates. These come from the time when we were part of the Viking Danelaw. Gate or gata means 'the road to', so Kirk Gate is the road to the church and Barnby Gate is 'the road to Bjarn's settlement', Bjarn being a personal name and 'by' meaning a settlement. Another example is Holme, which means 'island' in Norse.
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Lady Godiva and the Domesday Book
In the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), Newark belonged to Lady Godiva and her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia. By the time of the Domesday Book she gave it to the monks at Stow in Lincolnshire (1055), who in turn gave it to the Bishops of Lincoln. The lord of the manor at the time of Domesday was Bishop Remigius, who in return for supporting William’s conquest had been appointed Bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames. By 1075 he had moved his see from Dorchester to Lincoln, where he began work on the cathedral and took over the Bishopric from the last Saxon bishop. It would appear that Godiva survived until shortly before Domesday and on her death ownership of the manor was transferred to Remigius. From now until the Reformation the Manor of Newark would be owned by the Bishops of Lincoln, apart from periods when it was taken into ownership by the king of the time
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Newark Castle
the first Norman castle at Newark was probably a motte and bailey castle, with an earth mound, known as the motte, with a wooden tower or keep on top, with an outer enclosed area known as the bailey, surrounded by a defensive ditch and a wooden wall, known as a palisade. A good example of a motte can still be seen at Laxton. Both of these castles were probably built following William’s push into the north during the winter of 1068-9. Having built 2 castles at York, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us he built castles at Nottingham and Lincoln and ‘elsewhere in those parts.’ At this time Newark was about the same size as Nottingham and sat strategically on the Fosse Way and probably at a ford over the River Trent. Parts of the ramparts of this early castle were found during the excavations in the 1990s. Bishop Remigius died in 1092 and was succeeded by Robert Bloet. When Bloet died suddenly in 1123 he was succeeded by Alexander, nephew of the Bishop of Salisbury. Alexander added to Lincoln Cathedral, founded 4 monasteries and built castles at Banbury and Sleaford. He became known as ‘Alexander the Magnificent.’ In 1135 King Henry I sealed a charter giving Alexander permission to build a stone castle at Newark. Finding there wasn’t enough room between the river and the Fosse Way to build a castle, Alexander appealed to the king for permission to divert the Fosse Way, which was granted. Shortly afterwards he was also granted permission to build a bridge across the River Trent, thus creating a permanent route to the north, which caused the Great North Road to then be diverted via Newark so as to avoid a ferry crossing at the River Humber. The building of both the castle and the bridge would bring a strategic importance to Newark that would see it grow and thrive. It was this that led to Newark becoming known as 'The Key to the North' during the Civil Wars.
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Medieval Prosperity
It was also around 1235 that Henry I granted the Bishop of Lincoln permission to hold a fair on the feast day of St Mary Magdalene and the 4 days before. At this time there were no shops as such, so apart from food the only time when trade took place was at markets or fairs. It is believed the first fairs took place at the castle. Markets and fairs normally took place on a Sunday and in church yards, but in 1213 the people of Newark petitioned King John to change the market day to a Wednesday. This was granted and it is the first time such a change was recorded in England. Wednesday continues to be one of the main market days today.
The church was built on the wealth of the town as it developed its trades. At the beginning of the period these would have been based on agriculture, but wool and cloth would increase in importance. It appears that the people of Newark were dyeing and selling cloth during the reign of Henry II, but in 1332 Edward III, in an effort to improve the wool trade on which the prosperity of the kingdom depended, invited Flemish weavers to settle in England, to teach the locals how to manufacture fine cloth. Newark, already the centre of a wool producing area and engaged in the cloth trade, naturally attracted them and the Fleming family became inhabitants in Edward’s reign. Alan Fleming’s name is first recorded in August 1339 and he went on to become a prominent citizen. He died in 1361 and is commemorated by the Fleming brass in the north choir aisle, which dates from 1363 and is one of the largest brasses in England measuring 2.8m by 1.7m. He was one of a number of Flemish merchants that settled in Newark and exported wool to Bruges and Ghent, where it was turned into cloth that was then exported throughout Europe from France to Russia. The Nottinghamshire monasteries at Rufford, Welbeck, Worksop, Shelford and Newstead were also selling their wool to foreign merchants. All Newark wool was exported from either Boston or Hull and would have been carefully weighed and sealed. When it arrived at its destination Newark merchants, such as James Keyser at Bruges, might have dealt with the wool. As well as Flanders wool was exported to Calais. The wool trade remained important throughout the Middle Ages, but declined towards the end as it was replaced by the cloth trade. There are references to fullers and fulling mills from the 13th century so the making of cloth was an important industry throughout the period until the 16th century. Drapers and Mercers dealt in cloth and are first recorded in the 14th century. After wool and cloth, hides and leather working were the next most important trades. Later in the period there are 5 tanners, 6 shoemakers, 1 saddler and 2 glovers recorded as members of the Trinity Guild. Tanning was a dirty and smelly business, so would have been established on the outskirts of the town along with the mills on Millgate.
Other trades would have catered for the travellers along the Great North Road and Fosse Way. Inns and taverns were established to house the travellers and one of the earliest is the Old White Hart, which dates to the 14th century. Dendrochronology has dated the earliest timbers to 1315. The current building was restored in 1979-80 and repainted as it might have looked at the time. The painted plaster figures represent St Michael, St Antony and St Barbara. The building consists of 3 parts: the late 15th century four-bay, three-storey front range facing onto the Market Place with its decorated elevation; the 14th century wing next to the front range and a 14th century hall to the rear. It may have originally been built as a merchant or wealthy craftsman's house and was then converted into an inn during the last decade of the 14th century. It was one of a number of inns that would surround the Market Place, including the Saracens Head and the Cardinals Hat or Talbot, later the Clinton Arms. A maltster was first recorded in 1276 and most of the inns would have had their own breweries to slake the thirst of the travellers. In addition to these trades there would have been builders, masons, blacksmiths and all of the trades needed within a town of Newark’s size and importance.
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The Death of King John
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In 1205 King John visited Newark Castle for the first time. The following year, when the current Bishop of Lincoln died, John took control of the castle entrusting it to William Walkelin, as part of his power struggle with the Pope. Although these struggles were resolved by 1213, John’s troubles with his Baron’s continued, resulting in Magna Carta in 1215, which he soon disregarded. Exasperated by his actions the Baron’s offered the crown to Prince Louis, son of Philip of France.
In August 1216 John ordered the castle to be handed to one of his favourites, a mercenary named Robert de Gaughy. In September 1216, after relieving the siege of Lincoln by the rebel Barons, John travelled to Lynn, now Kings Lynn. Leaving on 11th October, he went to Wisbech, losing his baggage in the Wash during the journey and then onto Swineshead Abbey, where he was taken ill. He struggled on to the castle at Sleaford, where he was by now suffering with dysentery. He eventually arrived at Newark Castle on the 16th and died on 18th/19th October during a great storm. To give an example of how he was regarded the chronicler Matthew Paris wrote that ‘Hell is a foul place, made fouler by the presence of King John.’ His body was taken to Worcester where he was interred in Worcester Cathedral. His 9 year old son was crowned King Henry III at Gloucester Cathedral. Although the south west tower of the castle was known as ‘King John’s Tower’ for many years it is almost certain that he would have used the Bishop’s private quarters, which were immediately above the gatehouse.
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By the following year troops loyal to Prince Louis were still holding parts of the east of England. French troops, led by the Count of Perche, had taken the city of Lincoln, but Nichola de la Haye, the aged female castellan, continued to hold Lincoln Castle for the king. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, known to some as the ‘greatest knight’, served as regent for Henry. Marshal called all nobles holding castles in England to a muster in Newark. Approximately 400 knights, 250 crossbowmen, and a larger auxiliary force of both mounted and foot soldiers were assembled. Marshal marched his forces to the city of Lincoln to break Prince Louis's siege.
Having circled the city on 20 May and taken the north gate Marshal’s forces entered the castle and began firing their crossbows down into the enemy forces between the castle and cathedral at the top of Steep Hill. Eventually Marshal’s forces charged the besieging forces, which collapsed into a rout. The city was pillaged by Marshal’s army on the grounds that it had been loyal to Louis, leading to the battle being called the ‘Battle of Lincoln Fair.’ With a new young king many of the baron’s turned away from Louis and following a sea battle at Sandwich in August Louis was forced to give up his claim to the throne the following month.
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Robert de Gaughy was ordered by Henry III to give up the castle to its rightful owner, the Bishop of Lincoln. Despite several forceful reminders, de Gaughy refused and in July 1218 the castle was besieged by a strong force led by William Marshal and with the king in attendance, but after a week they had failed to take the castle, even though they used stone throwing siege engines against the walls. Eventually, de Gaughy agreed to leave for £100 of silver to compensate for the provisions he would leave behind.
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Floods and Rebuilding
In 1457, a flood swept away the bridge over the Trent. The Bishop of Lincoln, John Chadworth, funded the construction of a new oak bridge with stone defensive towers at either end
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Religious and Political Changes
The establishment of the Church of England and the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII had a significant impact on Newark. The town was incorporated under an alderman and twelve assistants in 1549, and the charter was confirmed and extended by Elizabeth I. Charles I later reincorporated the town under a mayor and aldermen, reflecting its growing commercial prosperity
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Modern Era
The governance of Newark continued under this charter until the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. The addition of "upon Trent" to the town's name became more common around the time of Elizabeth I
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Newark Civic trust also contains a wealth of history of Newark over various publications and magazines - check HERE
Please also see the 2 below links to Cornelius Browns history of Newark
Volume 1
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For more detailed information about Newark's role during the Civil War, visit the National Civil War Centre, which offers free admission to residents of Newark and Sherwood
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The below video shows Newark during the 1940's