Civil War redoubt 680m north west of Dairy 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 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 remains will constribute 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, 680m north west of Dairy Farm on the north east bank of a stream known as the Old Trent Dyke. It consists of earthworks defining a sub-rectangular banked enclosure approximately 35m square internally. The enclosure is interpreted as a redoubt with ramparts up to 0.8m high and c.3m in width. The ramparts project outwards on the northern and eastern corners to form two demi-bastions, and have gaps approximately 1.5m across in the eastern side and on the southern corner. An area of raised ground immediately to the east of the monument beyond the break in the eastern rampart is considered to suggest the presence of external features in association with the original entrance. An external ditch varying between 1.5m and 3m in width follows the north west and north east sides of the ramparts and continues to the tip of the eastern demi-bastion. A short linear feature approximately 10m in length, 2.5m in width and up to 0.8m deep projects from the south west corner of the ditch and runs into the Old Trent Dyke.

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. Two contemporary plans recording the fieldworks of the Royalists and Parliamentarians respectively both clearly depict the monument, the former referring to it as `The Sconce at Stoke Lodge', the latter describing it as `a flanked redout of the Scots by the Red lodge'. The lodge referred to was apparently a medieval moated house immediately to the north west of the sconce. The lodge is the subject of a seperate scheduling. The arrangement of the demi-bastions and the location of the monument suggest that it was designed to protect the fording point across the Old Trent Dyke near the Red lodge and also to enfilade the Kelham Road and the approach to a large Scots encampment known as `Edinburgh' depicted on a contemporary plan.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

30204

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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