We had a good talk last night at the Numismatic Society, with a talk on Newark in the Civil War. Newark was a key garrison for the King, sitting astride the Great North Road (yes, parts of the A1 are still called that on my satnav) and the River Trent. These were two important communication routes in the 17th Century, as the canal building craze was yet to come and the railways were many years off. Having said that, here is a link to the Wollaton Wagonway, an early stage of railway development that was built before the Civil War.
For the sake of balance I should also add that the Romans built some early canals in England – the Foss Dyke, Car Dyke and Bourne-Morton Canal (all in Lincolnshire) were originally Roman canals.
For my American readers, who may be having trouble with this, yes, despite what happens when you search “Newark” online, there is another one that isn’t in New Jersey. The same goes for Civil War. The internet may think there was just the one, but we had one too. In fact, if you count the Anarchy, the Baron’s Wars, the War of the Roses and the Bishops’ Wars we had several. For some reason we only called one set of them “the Civil War”. I say that, but in fact there is an academic move afoot to call the Civil War the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. This reflects the reality of the situation, with much fighting in Ireland and Scotland too. It’s even worse when you consider there were three Civil Wars wrapped up under the title of “The Civil War”
So, having said it was a good talk and having spread confusion, I will go. I have promised Julia not to overdo the typing and make my hands relapse.
Newark Siege Shilling – used after the siege as a pendant to demonstrate loyalty to the King. More on this tomorrow.
It sounds like a very interesting talk.
It was one of those talks that finished too soon, and you don’t often here me say that.
There is always something new to be learned here, Simon. Unlike Newark, I would bet you do not have a town named Toad Suck over there. There is one here. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_Suck,_Arkansas
No, we have no Toad Suck. We have a few strange ones, but Canada has this, which shows how times change –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika,_Ontario
I think I have heard of that place. Interesting link!
🙂
Believe it or not, this homebody knew about your Civil War and that there was another Newark. The power of reading!
🙂 Writers know these things because writers read, as you say. Users of the internet, I’m afraid, seem to lack such wide knowledge. In the same way, comedians tend to do well on celebrity quiz shows.
this naturally appeals to me
I think you would have enjoyed it – plenty of talk of plague and typhus and how to tell them apart after 350 years (typhus doesn’t kill children, plague kills everyone). When the plague got to East Stoke the burial registers show 120 burials in 6 months, compared to 10-12 in a normal year. With that and the last battle of the Wars of the Roses it has a dark history.