Details

The monument includes the remains of a Civil War fieldwork constructed by the
Royalist forces defending Newark.

The monument lies immediately south of a water filled gravel quarry on
Crankley Point. The remains include earthworks defining two parallel banks up
to 3m in width and between 0.6m and 0.8m high running on an approximately
east-west axis for a distance of c.56m. The southern bank is visible for its
entire length and has an external ditch c.2m in width and 0.8m in depth and a
centrally placed ramp and entrance of approximately 2m across. The northern
bank is of similar dimensions but is only intermittently visible and has no
readily discernible ditch. Traces of a north facing bastion survive at the
eastern end as a slight continuation of the parallel banks which converge to
form a point.

The monument is a fieldwork constructed by the Royalist forces defending
Newark during one of the first two sieges. A contemporary plan recording the
fieldworks around Newark clearly depicts the monument and attributes it to the
defenders, describing it as `an ould worke of the Newarkers'. An early 20th
century map showing the monument prior to disturbance by gravel quarrying
indicates that it originally had two north-facing bastions which would
presumably have mounted artillery pieces. Both this, the presence of an
entrance on the opposite side, and the location of the fieldwork suggest that
it was constructed to prevent incursions onto the island formed by the two
courses of the river Trent and therefore protect Newark from the west.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The battles and sieges of the English Civil War (1642-52) between King and
Parliament were the last major active military campaigns to be undertaken on
English soil and have left their mark on the English landscape in a variety of
ways. Fieldworks are earthworks which were raised during the military
campaigns to provide temporary protection for infantry or to act as gun
emplacements. The earthworks, which may have been reinforced with revetting
and palisades, consisted of banks and ditches and varied in complexity from
simple breastworks to complex systems of banks and interconnecting trenches.
They can be recognised today as surviving earthworks or as crop or soil marks
on aerial photographs. They are recorded widely throughout England, with
concentrations in the main areas of campaigning, and have been recognised to
be unique in representing the only evidence on the ground of military
campaigns fought in England since the introduction of guns.
Newark was a key garrison held by the Royalists from the outbreak of the Civil
War in 1642 until it surrendered on the orders of the King in 1646. The town
was surrounded by a series of offensive and defensive fieldworks, many of
which survive to the present day. They are the most impressive surviving
collection of such works in England; not only do extensive remains survive,
but the whole system is recorded on two nearly contemporary plans, one by a
Royalist engineer, the other by a Parliamentarian. They thus provide a unique
opportunity for the study of the field engineering of the Civil War. All
surviving examples of the Newark siegeworks are identified to be nationally
important.

The remains of the fieldwork on Crankley Point survive particularly well as a
series of earthworks, and will retain significant archaeological potential in
the form of buried deposits. As a result of both the survival of historical
documentation and a subsequent archaeological survey, the remains will
contribute particularly to understaning of the Civil War sieges of Newark.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Clampe, R, A Description of the Seidge of Newarke upon Trent, (1646)
RCHME, , Newark on Trent - The Civil War Siegeworks, (1964)
Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 25" - Notts. XXX, 11
Source Date: 1920
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England