Civil War fieldwork on Crankley Point

Overview

Location

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 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.

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.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

30205

Legacy System:

RSM

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:

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.