Monday, June 17, 2019

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.

28 comments:

  1. What a beautiful church! I love the spire!! WOW - must be even more stunning in person!

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    1. Thank you Ann, it is a very stunning spire seen from miles around:)

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  2. Marvelous photos!!!

    Good you had saved them. :-)

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    1. Thank you WoW, I always save and back up photos but sometimes I forget about them and it's a lovely surprise when I look back for blog post inspirtation:)

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  3. I have been there several times, so it was a delight to come along with you on your tour and bring back some lovely memories I have of this beautiful town.

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    1. Thank you MM, yes it is a lovely town, we used to visit often when we lived that side of the Midlands but hadn't been for a while:)

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  4. What a beautiful area with so much to see and enjoy. 😊

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    1. Thank you Karen, yes it is a lovely area with lots to see:)

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  5. Imagine having a stone from Newark castle in your garden! The castle must have been stunning in its heyday overlooking the river Trent.:)

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    1. Thank you Simone, I suppose when the place lay in ruins stones would be taken and used for buildings around the town, it must be great to find a few stones in your house or garden with such history:)

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  6. I didn’t realise Newark had so much history. The castles looks lovely. Another for my ever growing list! B x

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    1. Thank you Barbara, yes it is a very interesting place I suppose because it was a stronghold on the way to the north with the navigable river running through it too. It had a lot going for it:)

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  7. Lovely view of the Market Place from the town hall museum and art gallery window. It looks quite continental with those striped awnings over the market stalls. Newark looks an attractive town.

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    1. Thank you Linda, there are some lovely paintings by local artists in the town hall museum of both castle and market place which seemed to be a favourite amongst them especially with the church spire in the background. When we were there just before Easter it was very warm and all the cafes around the market place had outside seating so it did seem quite continental:)

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  8. What a lovely day out & beautiful photos. Thought I'd left a comment, as I remember writing it. Take care.

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    1. Thank you Susan, I didn't find another comment so thank you for popping back and leaving this one. Who knows what blogger does with them sometimes?) It was a lovely day when we visited glad you enjoued the photos:)

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  9. Beautiful.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos:)

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  10. Wow what amazing buildings, just loved looking at all your photos.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Thank you Amanda, there are some lovely and very old buildings in Newark:)

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  11. You write the most splendid reviews of the places you visit. I do enjoy reading about your visits. Thank you

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    1. Thank you Julie for your kind comment. I'm glad you enjoy visiting:)

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  12. It looks as though you had a wonderful break. The castle looks so interesting and I loved reading all the history. The church looks interesting too and as you say it is such an elegant building. A great set of photos Rosie :)

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    1. Thank you RR. We did have a lovely break not too far away but a few days away from home and no worries about getting home for Max was quite relaxing:)

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  13. An interesting tour. I haven't visited Newark once before, but not for long as it was rather late in the day.

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    1. When we lived in Mansfield we would visit quite often, then when we lived in Spalding we used to pass through on our way to and back from visiting parents etc in Mansfield and Chesterfield so I know it quite well but it was nice to visit as a tourist for once:)

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