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.