Looking Back

A couple of months ago, after we had visited Clumber Park and Sherwood Forest which I wrote about here and here, we moved on and spent a couple of days in the town of Newark, Nottinghamshire.

 I thought I'd go back and look at my photos and share some of them with you. I must have been saving them for a rainy day.  In these photos you can see how lovely the weather was the week before Easter.

This photo was taken in the early evening sunlight.  The ruins of Newark Castle stand proudly at the side of the River Trent which flows through the town.

There are lovely gardens on either side of the castle and river.  The castle itself has a colourful history and has many nicknames including 'Guardian of the Trent' and 'Gateway to the North' It was here that King John died on 19th October 1216 just over a year after he had signed the Magna Carta.

Above the last of the evening photos taken from across the river.

Next day we were back to look at the castle from the gardens on the town side of the river.  Luckily it was still bright and warm.  The gardens were very well kept.

During the English Civil War Newark was a Royalist stronghold and both town and castle withstood three sieges by Parliamentarian forces finally surrendering in 1646 on the orders of King Charles I.

Parliamentarian forces gave the order the destroy the castle but these were never fully carried out as an epidemic of plague hit the ravaged town.  Gradually stones were removed from the castle and these turn up in houses and garden around the town. 

The Manor of Newark and the castle belonged to Henrietta Maria the widow of King Charles I until 1669.  The castle gardens were opened in 1887 and in 2000 a Heritage Lottery grant was used to refurbish the gardens and add a bandstand.

Newark Market Place with with the church of St Mary Magdalene in the background.

St Mary Magdalene is a very elegant church and its spire can be seen above the rooftops from all over the town.  This spire is recorded as being the tallest in the county of Nottinghamshire at 236 feet high.

We had a quick peek inside but didn't linger as it was Maundy Thursday and the church was being prepared for the following day's services.

Above and below a few glimpses of the church's interior.

Below, the font

 
 The lower part dates from the 15th century the bowl from 1660.

 A great view of the Market Place taken from a window in the Town Hall Museum and Art Gallery. Note the building at the corner of the market place which is the 15th century frontage of the Old White Hart Inn.

 Another view of the church spire over the roof tops.  this was taken from a window in the National Civil War Centre Museum.

I'll come back to both museums in a later post.