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.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a Civil War redoubt on the eastern summit
of Beacon Hill.
The monument is situated in an urban area and consists of an L-shaped ditch
approximately 30m in length north to south and about 35m east to west. The
ditch has a marked V-shaped profile and measures up to 2.5m in depth and 7.5m
in width. Aerial photographs and archaeological field observation prior to the
construction of a housing estate around the monument suggest that the ditch
was originally rectangular in plan, the southern and eastern sections having
been infilled at some point during the last century.
Contemporary documents record the tactical importance of Beacon Hill
throughout the Civil War as the only high ground overlooking the town. During
the second siege in March 1644 the Royalist commander Prince Rupert occupied
the hill with his forces as a prelude to mounting a cavalry charge which
dislodged the besieging Parliamentarian forces from their positions. During
the third and final siege between November 1645 and May 1646 a contemporary
plan showing the fieldworks of the Parliamentarians clearly depicts the lines
of circumvallation crossing the western slopes of the hill. A small
Parliamentarian fort is also known to have been constructed approximately 500m
to the north west of the redoubt. The placement of the monument on the eastern
side of the hill with good views over Coddington and Balderton, both of which
were garrisoned and fortified by the Parliamentarians during the third siege,
suggests that it was designed to protect the line of the Coddington road and
the eastern approaches to Newark. The fact that it is not depicted on either
of the 1646 plans suggests that it dates from early in the war and was
possibly therefore a hastily constructed Royalist defensive work subsequently
found to be too exposed to maintain.
The surfaces of all pathways and fences are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
30212
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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 Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
