NEWARK CASTLE
The episcopal castle at Newark was built by the Bishops' of Lincoln, between 1135-39, completed by Bishop Alexander. It was rebuilt in the late C13th-early C14th, with the work initiated by Bishop Oliver Sutton and completed by his successor, Bishop John Dalderby. The final episcopal alterations were undertaken by Bishop Thomas Rotherham, between 1471-80. The castle was restored as an aristocratic residence by Sir William Cecil between 1587-88. In 1646, following the third siege of Newark, during the English Civil War, the castle was slighted and left as a roofless ruin. The ruins were restored and consolidated by Anthony Salvin between 1845-48. Further restoration was carried out by the Newark Corporation in 1899 and lastly by the Department of the Environment 1979-90.
The castle you see today has mainly been built in two stages. The early C12th work is of lias limestone rubble, sometimes called ragstone. The late C13th-early C14th work, while using or re-using limestone, also utilised skerry sandstone, quarried locally from Winkburn and Maplebeck.
LIMESTONE
Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. The major materials in Limestone are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock. When conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. About 10% of all sedimentary rocks are limestone. Limestone has numerous uses, such as a building material, an essential component of concrete, as an aggregate for the base of roads, as white pigment or filler in products such as toothpaste and paints, as a chemical feedstock for the production of lime, as a soil conditioner or as a decorative addition to rock gardens.
Limestone is very common in architecture, especially in Europe and North America. Limestone is readily available and relatively easy to cut into blocks or more elaborate carving. It is also long lasting and stands up well to exposure. However, it is a very heavy material, making it impractical for tall buildings, and relatively expensive as a building material. Limestone was also a very popular building block in the Middle Ages in the areas where it occurred, since it is hard, durable, and commonly occurs in easily accessible surface exposures. Many medieval churches and castles in Europe are made of limestone.
FOSSILIFEROUS LIMESTONE
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Fossiliferous Limestone is a type of limestone that contains obvious and abundant fossils. These are normally shell and skeletal fossils of the organisms that produced the limestone. This type of limestone is often found in the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District, forming a landscape known as karst.
SANDSTONE
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mostly of sand sized rock grains. Clastic (meaning - composed of small fragments) sedimentary rocks are formed by the weathering process that breaks down larger rocks in to pebble, sand or clay particles by exposing them to wind, ice and water.
Clastic sedimentary rocks can be subdivided by the size of the particles: Very Fine (0.0625mm to 0.125mm) - Fine (0.125mm to 0.25mm) - Medium (0.25mm to 0.5mm) - Course (0.5mm to 1mm) - Very Course (1mm to 2mm).
Sandstone can be found in various colours. These are most commonly tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white and black. Some types of sandstone are more susceptible to the effects of weathering than others. The more resistant types are commonly used as building materials.
SANDSTONE BEDS
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A bed is the smallest division of a geologic formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes (bedding planes) separating it from layers above and below. The bedding planes are the flat lines like layers on a cake. A single bed is the difference in height between 2 bedding planes. They may vary in thickness from 1mm to many hundreds of metres. Beds can be horizontal, inclined at any angle including vertical. Beds can be flat or bent into folds.
CASTLE PLAN
Newark Castle is quadrangular on plan, aligned north-east to south-west. The gatehouse, early C12th, stands on the north-east side, with short sections of contemporary curtain wall attached to each side. Abutting the north-west end of the north-west section of wall is a section of late C13th-early C14th curtain wall which stretches across to a contemporary angle tower in the north-west corner. The curtain wall, with central tower, flanks the north-west side, ending at the early C12th angle tower in the south-west corner. Attached to the south-east side of the tower is a short section of contemporary curtain wall. The south-east side has been demolished.
CASTLE EXTERIOR
The gatehouse, early C12th, is of three storeys and roofless, with semi-circular archways at its outer and inner ends. In the centre is a third arch which originally contained massive gates. Behind the central arch, in the north-west wall, is a small recess for a warder. Its north-east entrance front is ashlar faced with corner pilasters, below which are massive, late C13th-early C14th buttresses flanking the archway. The archway is of two square orders with a hood mould enriched by dog tooth ornamentation. To the first floor, there are two, late C15th, two-light windows with four-centered arched lights and flat heads. They replaced three, early C12th, round-headed windows, of which the openings are still traceable. Above, the second floor has a late C15th, two-light cross mullioned window, which replaced two early C12th windows, of which the shafted jambs are still evident. The south-west (inner) face has a round-headed gateway and above it a doorway to the right-hand side and above again, a plain, round-headed window opening. Most of the ashlar face has been lost to stone robbers, replaced with late C19th York stone.
To the centre of the south-east side of the castle, there is a projecting staircase tower, square in its lower stages, but recessing into an octagonal turret above, with a heavy roll mould or string course above the hip of the junction of the two orders. At the bottom there is a restored, round-headed doorway with two loopholes above. Its south-west face has three loopholes and a doorway at the top. On the north-east face of the gatehouse, to the left-hand side of the staircase tower, there is a blocked, early C12th, round-headed window opening with cushion capitals supporting a roll mould with pellet ornamentation. The former window shafted jambs were removed when a three-light window with four-centred arched lights and flat head was inserted in the late C15th. Above is an identical, late C15th window. To the right-hand side of the staircase tower, there is a late C15th, four-light mullion with four-centred arched light and flat head to the first floor, restored in the late C19th. Above is a late C15th, two-light cross mullioned window.
On the north-east side of the stair turret is the abutment, at an obtuse angle, of a short section of early C12th curtain wall, with a round-headed doorway leading to the former wall walk at the top. It stands to almost its original height of 20m and has some late C19th brickwork at the base. A larger section of early C12th curtain wall adjoins the north-west side of the gatehouse, again standing to almost its original height of 27m. The loss of the ashlar outer face has revealed two doorways, one above the other, set high up in the wall, with a fireplace to the right-hand side of the lower doorway. They were inserted here in the late C15th when a timber framed extension was built out from the wall. The joist-holes are also evident. At the base there are three garderobe chutes. An almost vertical line of ashlar masonry at the right-hand side marks the end of the early C12th castle, terminating against the late C13th-early C14th north-west tower, which is polygonal with a battered plinth. It is of four storeys, with the second floor of the north-west face having a cross mullioned window with panel tracery, with a two-light mullioned window above it, both late C15th, but heavily restored in the late C19th.
To the right of the north-west tower, and running the entire length of the north-west river front, is the late C13th-early C14th curtain wall, with its battered plinth covering the early C12th scarp to the original curtain wall. It is of three storeys with a double rebated, round-headed watergate of two square orders at the left-hand end and a double garderobe chute at the right. At the left-hand side of the basement there are five loopholes to the undercroft behind. Above, to the left-hand side of the ground floor, there is a four-light cross mullioned window with panel tracery and, above, a larger traceried six-light window, both late C15th with late C19th restorations. To their right is a late C15th, two-storeyed oriel window, with three traceried lights to the lower section and a broken segmental headed opening above. Its apron has a shield bearing three stags which are the arms of Bishop Thomas Rotherham. To the right again, there are two, late C13th-early C14th pointed windows on the ground floor, with their lights and tracery now missing. Above, there are five-light and two-light cross mullioned windows, both late C16th. Standing at the centre of the curtain wall is a polygonal tower of four storeys, with a single broken window opening just below the level of the ground floor, with a restored, three-light cross mullion above it. To the right of the tower, is a late C13-early C14th pointed window to the ground floor, again with its lights and tracery missing, with a two-light mullion with cusped lights, restored in the late C19th, set higher up in the wall to the right of it. At the right-hand end, a small section of crenellated parapet adjoins the south-west tower. One of the merlons is loop-holed, while the others that remain are solid.
The curtain wall terminates against the early C12th south-west tower which is rectangular, being of four storeys with a battered plinth. On the north-west front there are single rectangular openings arranged one above the other, that to the top with C20 glazing. On the south-west side there is a two-light mullioned window to the second floor with a square opening below and a rectangular window above. On the inner north-east face, the artificial raising of the ground level between the C18th and C19th, means that the tower is now entered at first floor level through a C19th round-headed doorway with roll mould, shafted jambs and scalloped capitals. The original ground floor doorway is now reached by descending a flight of stone steps. Above, the south-west and north-east faces have round-headed doorways to the wall walk, with the north-east side also with a four-centred, arched, double lancet with hood mould. Abutting on the north-east base of the tower is a fragment of the contemporary curtain wall with brick relieving arches.
CASTLE INTERIOR
The upper floors of the gatehouse are reached by a wide, anti-clockwise, spiral staircase and are divided into two sections by the wall above the centre arch. The outer or northern part was originally of two storeys, but the wooden floor is now missing. The lower room to the first floor retains it early C12th chimney, while the north wall still retains shafted jambs from the original window openings, now blocked and altered. Above, the second floor room has a Tudor fireplace. The southern chamber was originally one tall storey, being floored in the late C13-early C14th. Original windows on its eastern and western sides are round-headed, each with shafted jambs and cushion capitals supporting broad roll moulds; the western window with a moulding with pellet ornamentation.
The basement of the four-storey north-tower is occupied by a stone-lined bottle dungeon. Adjoining it is a second dungeon in the base of the north-west curtain wall, which is square, brick-lined and barrel vaulted. Above, there are single rooms to each floor, with the floor levels altered in the C18th. The ground floor and first floor rooms both have late C15th stone fireplaces, with the ground floor room also having early C12th carved stonework with chevron ornamentation placed within the walling during the late C19th restoration. These stones were part of a large number of carved stones found in the castle grounds in the 1880s, with the majority now reassembled in an archway which is on display in the Newark Register Office in the castle grounds. The second floor room is a complete hexagon, the form having been achieved by means of a squinch arch, but the floor is missing.
The four-storey south-west tower has barrel vaults to the three lower rooms. From the doorway in the north-east wall, reached by descending a flight of stone steps from the now artificially raised ground level, there is a passageway leading to a basement dungeon with a sheer drop into it and a thick barrel vault over. Above there are single rooms to each floor, with traces of a garderobe in the first floor room. The second floor room is now reached by a C19th staircase.
Lying beneath the former site of the great hall is a late C13th-early C14th rebuilding of the Norman vaulted undercroft. It is four bays in length and two in width, with quadripartite vaulting with plain, chamfered ribs, supported by a central arcade of four round-headed arches on three octagonal piers. The ends of the arcade and the eastern side of the vaulting are carried on pilaster responds of Norman date, while on the west wall the responds rest on simple corbels, one of which terminates in a single knot or twist, another in a double knot or twist. The west wall is pierced by four loopholes, widely splayed, while a fifth lights a cell-like chamber on the north side, in which probably sat the warder in charge of the watergate. The steps forming the present entrance at the south end of the crypt are late C15th, while the original entrance at the north-east corner has a late C13th doorway leading to a sloping passage that divides in two, descending to the watergate and rising by steps to the courtyard near the gatehouse. The staircase leading up to the courtyard has an early C12th barrel vault and possibly represents an earlier watergate.
The oriel window in the curtain wall has a traceried vault while to the basement of the middle-tower there is a stone-line dungeon, beneath which is a second dungeon, accessed by a trap door in the dungeon floor.
KING JOHN
In 1205 King John visited Newark Castle for the first time. The following year, as part of his power struggle with the Pope, John took control of the castle, later entrusting it to one of his mercenaries, Robert de Gaughy. In September 1216, after relieving the siege of Lincoln, John travelled to Lynn where he contracted dysentery. Leaving on 11th October, he went to Wisbech and then Swineshead Abbey, losing his baggage during the journey. He struggled on to Sleaford and eventually Newark Castle, where he died on 18th October. The following year de Gaughy was ordered by the new king, Henry III, to give up the castle to the Bishop of Lincoln. Despite several forceful reminders, de Gaughy refused and in 1218 the castle was besieged by a strong force, but after a week they failed to take the castle. Instead, de Gaughy agreed to leave for £100 of silver to compensate for the provisions he would leave behind.
CIVIL WAR AND BEYOND
During the English Civil War (1642-46), Newark held out for the Royalist cause and endured three sieges until ordered to surrender by King Charles I in May 1646. Although the castle would have had a significant role, it is not known what measures were taken to re-fortify it, except for the re-cutting of the north ditch. After the surrender, Parliament ordered the town’s folk and local villagers to assist in the dismantling of the siege works and the castle. Although the castle buildings were put out of action, being blown up with gunpowder, it is likely that the bulk of the castle still stood, becoming fair game for stone robbers.
By the late C18th, the north-west tower was occupied by squatters, who put in new floors at different levels than the originals, while the southern half of the castle grounds was in use as a bowling green. By the early C19th cottages had been built against the inside of the river curtain wall and a coal wharf had been established beside the north-west tower. In 1839 the tenements which had grown up beside the gatehouse were cleared and this area of the castle became a cattle market. Despite its distressed state, interest in the castle as a historic building was beginning to be kindled. The Crown had acquired the manor of Newark in 1547 but sold off its Newark holdings in 1836. However, it retained the castle and between 1845 and 1848 it became the first historic monument to be consolidated at government expense, with £650 spent on restoration work, supervised by Anthony Salvin.
In 1881 Sir William Gilstrap bought the cattle market site, and on part of it erected and partially endowed the Gilstrap Free Library (now Newark Registry Office), which opened in 1885. In 1887 Newark Corporation initiated a plan to landscape the castle grounds as a public park, which opened in 1889 as a Jubilee Memorial to Queen Victoria. As part of the works, the ruins were consolidated, with the wall tops capped with concrete and tarmac, while the walls were refaced in York stone, much of which is still in place. From 1979 to 1990 the castle was consolidated again, with a new roof added to the north-west tower, while the wall tops were covered in lias limestone.
HISTORY OF NEWARK CASTLE TAKEN FROM BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS
TASKS
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The given co-ordinates will take you to the Gatehouse. Discounting the brickwork, what type of building stone (described in the listing) can you see in front of you? Describe the touch and explain what you see.
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You will be stood at the Polygonal Tower at Waypoint 1. This was originally the first floor but due to raising the ground level on the south-east, it is now at ground level. Take a height reading with your GPS.
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At Waypoint 2 you will be stood by building stones that have clear sandstone beds. Answer the following questions: Estimate the height of one of the beds. Are the beds flat or inclined? What colour is the rock?
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Now at Waypoint 3, you will be on the Riverbank by the side of the curtain wall. Some of the stones have deep crevices in. Describe the type of stone (referenced in the listing). Also, please explain why you think the crevices are there?
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Still at Waypoint 3, take another GPS height reading. What is the difference from Waypoint 1? This will tell you how much the ground has been raised.
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Remaining at Waypoint 3, you will note lots of fossils in the building stone. Tell me the size of any of the fossils you see and what type of fossil this is?
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You will now be at the south entrance to the castle stood at Waypoint 4. What is the date on the Civic Award?
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Whilst you have been walking round the castle, tell me how many times walking up and down the curtain wall it would take you to cover 1 mile.
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Newark Castle is not open 24/7 but from dawn until dusk. Tours are available for Newark Castle but there is a charge. The tours last one hour and are held on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The Dungeon Tour is at 11am and the Towers & Undercrofts Tour is at 1pm.
I hope you enjoy your visit!