Civil War redoubt 550m south east of Valley Farm

Reasons for Designation

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 redoubt 550m south east of Valley Farm survive particularly well as a series of substantial earthworks and will retain significant archaeological potential in the form of buried deposits. As a result of both the survival of historical documentation and subsequent archaeological survey, the redoubt will contribute particularly to understanding of the final siege of Newark.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a Civil War redoubt constructed by the Parliamentarian forces besieging Newark.

The monument lies on the north bank of a brook 550m south east of Valley Farm. The remains include earthworks defining a rectangular enclosure c.27m by 27m which is comprised of ramparts up to 0.7m high and varying between 2m and 4m in width. In the south west corner the rampart widens internally to form a rectangular raised area c.7m by 6m which is identified as a gun platform. An external ditch c.2m wide and 0.7m in depth abuts the ramparts to the north and west. Beyond the ditch to the north are slight traces of a counterscarp bank. Although obscured by a modern field boundary, a linear depression abutting the eastern rampart is also interpreted as the remains of an external ditch on this side. This depression lies east of the modern fence line but is included in the scheduling.

The monument is one of several redoubts constructed by the Scots who comprised part of the besieging Parliamentarian forces during the final siege of Newark between November 1645 and May 1646. A contemporary plan recording the fieldworks of the Parliamentarians clearly shows the monument and attributes it to the Scots. The plan also depicts an artillery piece on one corner of the redoubt. Both this and the location of the surviving platform upon the ramparts suggest that in part at least, the redoubt was designed to provide a clear field of fire over the Great North road, the 17th century course of which is preserved in adjacent field boundaries.

All fences are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath them is included.

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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

30201

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Seige of Newark by the English and Scotch Armies, (1646)
RCHME, , Newark on Trent - The Civil War Siegeworks, (1964)
Clampe, R, A Description of the Seidge of Newarke upon Trent, (1646)

End of official list entry

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