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Nottinghamshire & the English Civil War

Echoes of the English Civil War are never far away in Nottinghamshire.

It was in Nottingham itself, on 22 August 1642, that Charles I raised his royal standard as a signal for his supporters to rally to his side. Taking place just outside Nottingham Castle, the event marked the beginning of the war. A plaque on Standard Hill, near the castle, commemorates the historic event.

Nottingham proved to be a town of divided loyalties and Charles soon moved off to Shrewsbury to gather more support for his cause. This left the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) free to garrison the castle with their own soldiers under the command of Colonel John Hutchinson.

The Parliamentarians were soon in the thick of action as Royalists from around the county repeatedly tried to retake the castle for the king. On one occasion, in September 1643, 600 Royalist soldiers from Newark managed to fight their way through the town and up to the castle but were eventually driven away. In fact Hutchinson held the castle until the end of the war. 

Like Nottingham, Newark held a strategic position on the route northwards through England. Both Newark and its medieval castle were in Royalist hands at the beginning of the War and fiercely defended. The Royalists built major earthwork defences at the edge of the town. One of these, the Queen’s Sconce, can still be seen (Devon Park via Boundary Road).

Newark came under siege no less than three times from the Parliamentarians, in 1643, 1644 and 1645-46.  Conditions in the town grew intolerable, especially after an outbreak of plague and in May 1646 Charles I ordered the town to surrender. Charles himself, disguised as a clergyman, made his way to Southwell where, at the King’s Arms, he gave himself up to the Scots Army. Charles was taken back to the Scots camp at Kelham, near Newark. The Civil War was over.

The remains of Newark Castle, with its resounding echoes of the past and its fine vista over the River Trent attract visitors from all over Europe. Artefacts from Civil War days, including cannon balls, can be viewed at the town museum on Appleton Gate and the former governor’s house, a handsome timber framed building on the corner of Stodman Street and the Market Square, provides welcome refreshment as a tea shop.

Despite the surrender of Charles I, the war rumbled on. A final skirmish in Nottinghamshire took place at Willoughby-on-Wolds in the south of Nottinghamshire on 5 July 1648. Here, in a field near the church, the Parliamentarians took on 800 Royalist troops under Sir Phillip Monckton. It was a ‘bloody’ battle but the Royalists were eventually overcome. The Civil War in Nottinghamshire was finally over.

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