 |
Home
Newark event
Newark 1646 Project Update
Newark fortifies as rebels close in on town
|
|
|
|
Newark event
Location: Nottinghamshire
NEWARK is bracing itself for famine, death and bloody battle as news reaches the town that The Royalists and Roundheads have replenished their war chests and are preparing for fresh fighting.
 Just as stories of the brutal end to the English Civil War are all but forgotten, battle will resume in the Nottinghamshire town.
Over the next few months, Parliamentarians (The Roundheads) will build their battlements in the Riverside Park, ready to set up camp and besiege the castle on the weekend of April 28, 2006.
Far from a surprise attack, The Royalists are also stocking their arsenals for when they take cover in Newark Castle for the three-day siege.
The battle is being staged by event committee Newark 1646, which has just been awarded £25,000 by the Local Heritage Initiative and a £5,000 Community Award from Nationwide Building Society, to re-enact one of the most bloody conflicts of the English Civil War.
The re-enactment, which is expected to bring thousands of visitors to Newark and put the town back on the historic map, will commemorate the 360th anniversary of the end of the siege.
Glynn Hopkins, from Newark 1646, a group of local history enthusiasts, will go into battle with some of the very best re-enactment soldiers from the English Civil War Society.
He says: “Royalist Newark was the northern capital of the Civil War but we have never staged a re-enactment here before. This is a real shame because it means people don’t know the stories and the town’s rich heritage is being lost.
 “The Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) money has changed all that after two years of trying to secure funding for the event.
“It is just brilliant that LHI has recognised the value of what we’ve been planning so we can bring the town’s heritage back to life.
“Finally we can commemorate the thousands of people who lost their lives here either on the battlefield or through the sheer hardship.”
A Royalist stronghold and geographically important as the key to the north, both sides recognised that whoever controlled Newark controlled the region.
Consequently, the town fell under attack from 22,000 Parliamentarians, including some 8,000 allied Scots soldiers, only surrendering at the order of King Charles I in May 1646.
This was not before Newark folk endured months of suffering and starvation.
The Parliamentarian force blocked the river and secured the land around the town, which meant that the mills couldn’t operate and the dairy cows couldn’t graze.
Newark 1646 aims to recreate a sense of what life must have been like during that period and to tell the story of the surrender of Newark and raise the profile of the town’s historic importance.
With Newark’s Young Archealogical Group, the society will reconstruct the siege line, including 6ft by 4ft willow gabions to stop cannonballs, four big guns and 12 activity stations, such as barber-surgeons and an officer’s tent.
There will be a skirmish on each day, with all canons firing at set times and actors will play out a selection of stories from the siege, such as the argument between the mayor and the governor about surrendering the town.
LHI East Midlands Regional Adviser Jean Rider said: “This project will foster closer relationships within the Newark community by people learning about their common heritage and the value of the town they live in.”
There will be a 17th-century banquet for local dignitaries on the Saturday afternoon and the society is also looking into the possibility of using the Tudor Hall to show how rich people would have lived.
Glynn Hopkins added: “All the events will be free and open to everyone. This is all about engaging people with their town’s rich history.”
 June Rowlands from Newark and Sherwood District Council, which is backing the event with promotional and logistical support, said: “This event will raise the profile of Newark and bring thousands of visitors to the town.”
Newark town council, Millgate Museum, Friends of Newark Castle and other local partner organisation are also helping out with the event.
The three-day event will be brought to a close with a ceremony to lay wreaths for the people who died in battle.
For more details about the re-enactment and Newark 1646, visit www.eventplan.co.uk/newark1646.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
