Civil War defences 270m and 300m west of Vale 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 monument survives well in the form of low earthworks. These remain largely undisturbed with the result that the preservation of buried deposits is likely to be good. As a result of both the survival of historical documentation and subsequent archaeological survey, the remains will contribute particularly to understanding of the final siege of Newark. In addition, the fieldworks, designed to protect a small temporary encampment, represent an exceptionally fragile and rare survival.

Details

The monument includes the remains of the Civil War village defences at Coddington constructed by the Parliamentarian forces besieging Newark in 1645- 1646. The monument is in two parts and consists of linear earthwork banks defining low ramparts. The first section comprises an `L'-shaped rampart measuring a maximum of 13m in width and 0.5m in height which runs for approximately 34m east from Balderton Lane before turning sharply and continuing for a further 40m on a north-south axis. The second section of rampart is a maximum of 12m in width and 0.5m in height and runs for up to 60m on a north-south axis from the northern boundary of the Homestead. A contemporary plan drawn by the Parliamentarian Richard Clampe clearly depicts a series of defences enclosing the southern half of Coddington and describes them as `Colonel Gray's Quarter'. Documentary sources record that during the third and final siege of Newark between November 1645 and May 1646 the headquarters of the Parliamentarian regiment of Colonel Theophilus Gray were located at Coddington. The earthworks are interpreted as representing the remains of the south east corner of the defences, intended to offer protection to a temporary encampment within. Further remains of the village defences have been obscured by later settlement and activity and are not included in the scheduling. All modern fences and trackways 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:

30238

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

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

Other
Beal, D C, (1997)
Nottinghamshire County Council, PRN 03732,

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