Newark at the Turn of the 19th Century
July 2006 Meeting Report
Guest Speaker - Michael Cox
The July meeting of The Keyworth & District Local History Society was held in the Centenary Lounge, Keyworth on 7th July 2006. A smaller than average audience were in attendance to listen to the presentation by Michael Cox on “Newark at the Turn of the 19th Century”. Perhaps the lower number attending could be attributed to the commencement of the holiday season or maybe to the presence of the fun-fair in full swing on the playing fields outside The Centenary Lounge as part of the prelude to The Keyworth Show which was due to be held the following day.
Michael began his presentation by stating that he had a sensation of déjà-vu in that he had given the same talk to the Society at an earlier date. Michael then went on to give a brief history of the town of Newark. Newark, it would seem, is about 1700 to 1800 years old. There is certainly very little evidence to suggest that it has any Roman origins, which in many ways is strange as the famous Fosse Way goes right past the town. There is also no known Roman name for Newark, another indicator that the town didn’t exist in Roman times. It is believed that the Vikings founded Newark after the Romans had left Britain to be colonized by various European tribes. The name Newark is Viking for “new work”, (which certainly is not very original as names go). Pagan and Christian burial sites have been located in Newark, which leads us to believe that the Vikings and the Saxons both inhabited the site. Newark was an important centre during the Danelaw period of British history. A great many of the town’s older streets are actually called “gates” which was the Viking word for street and shows their Viking origins. Viking and Saxon both co-existed in Newark, each living in their own settlements and forming their own communities, probably much like they did in Nottingham in contemporary times.
With the coming of the Normans in 1066 Newark’s importance grew due to its location on the River Trent. There is evidence that a castle has been situated on its present site for a great many years. The Norman bishop Alexander the Magnificent (so called due to his predilection for immense amounts of pomp connected with any of his public duties), built a substantial castle in the 12th century. He also had castles built at Sleaford and Banbury and managed to incur the displeasure of King Stephen who suspected him of plotting against the Crown. For his troubles Alexander was imprisoned by Stephen and had his castles confiscated!
Newark as we know it today is a town that was built on the vast amounts of money that the wool trade accrued in England. It can, therefore, be termed a “wool” town, which in many ways is strange since Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Norfolk are more commonly associated with such towns. The magnificent church, which dominates the town, owes its splendour to wool money. During the 18th century the growing of barley replaced wool as the town’s most important business. This in turn led to the rise of a very profitable brewing industry and it is the profits from this brewing industry that laid the foundation for much of the Georgian buildings that we see in Newark today.
Michael then proceeded to give the Society a slide-show presentation. The slides were many and varied and pretty well covered all aspects of the town. The presentation began with a slide showing the occasion of the visit to the town by King Edward VII in 1908 in his new Daimler motorcar. It continued with slides of Newark’s two railway stations, various views relating to the river Trent, (we were informed that Trent means “wanderer”), the castle, the damage done to the windows of the church as a result of a violent hailstorm on the town in 1905, numerous important buildings, and general views of streets and town scenes, all in their turn were depicted. With each slide a brief and anecdotal history was often related. All in all Michael’s presentation was entertaining and well received, “well done” Michael.