Image ID: 09491

Newark Castle and wooden 'Haling' bridge, River Trent, Newark, 1836

Courtesy of Nottinghamshire County Council

Castlegate
Newark on Trent
Nottinghamshire
England

This photograph shows the ruins of Newark Castle, a once remarkable building. The site has revealed Saxon remains, and there is evidence of Norman habitation, but the castle remains seen here were built c 1133 by Alexander 'The Magnificent', Bishop of Lincoln, with gatehouse, free-standing chapel (now gone) and long and high river front (265 ft long, 170 ft high), containing a watergate. A later bishop, perhaps Henry De Burghersh (1320-40) rebuilt the curtain walls in different shaded oolite and sandstone and added traceried arched windows, and yet another bishop, Thomas Rotherham (1471-80), added the Oriel windows to light the new hall and upper storey that he had put in. Henry VIII took over the castle during the Reformation, but it was allowed to deteriorate. In 1581, it was leased to the Earl of Rutland who modernised what was left as a residence, adding fireplaces and window glass (luxury!). It then passed to his son, Lord Burghley, who made it so comfortable that in 1603, the new King, James I, stayed there. It's association with royalty from hereon ultimately led to its down fall. During the Civil War, 1642-46, Newark held out for the Royalist cause and the Castle became a Royalist garrison and stronghold, until told to surrender by King Charles I, who was staying at nearby Southwell. After this the townsfolk were ordered to demolish all siegeworks, including the castle. Stone and timber was taken for building use elsewhere and squatters moved into parts of what was left. Despite all this, it still remained a Crown possession, and in 1845-8 it became the first monument to be restored at government expense. The so-called wooden 'Haling' bridge was built as a continuation of the towpath across the navigable River Trent. Its name derived from the Middle English word 'halen', which meant to pull, drag, or haul, all of which indicates its one time use, which was to allow horses to pull boats through this section of river. It was dismantled in 1951 when the new 'Town Lock' was excavated, and rebuilt afterwards, but not in the form seen here. (However, Whites Directory of 1853 says that the 'Haling' path bridge was the one 'which crosses the Devon near the large water mill, consists of 5 segmental arches, each 14 feet span, and was built in 1819 by the Newark Navigation Company who, in 1772, obtained an Act of Parliament for widening and improving the stream, which by a circuitous course of four miles, now brings the Trent navigation past the walls of Newark. Anciently three narrow and inconvenient wooden bridges occupied the sites of these durable structures of brick and stone.').

Date: 1836

Organisation Reference: NCCE003486

Organisation: