Royalist Newark 1642–1646

Royalist Newark, 1642-1646. Sieges and Siege Works by Stuart B. Jennings is another one of those books that covers specific aspects of the British Civil Wars so well. Following the old adage of eating the elephant in lots of small mouthfuls, Helion’s objective is, it seems to me at any rate, to feed us manageable chunks of information about discrete elements of the wars. This makes it possible to focus on much more detail than might be found in a sweeping general history, of which we have many. I think it works really well and has done much to draw me back towards the period.

So, this is the first comprehensive study of Newark in the civil war, from the outbreak of hostilities when the town was turned into a Royalist garrison, through three sieges until its final capitulation in May 1646. Wider operations in the region are also covered where their outcomes had an impact on the town. Extracts from personal and official correspondence are used effectively to support the narrative. Of particular interest is John Twentyman’s account which forms Appendix I which is reproduced faithfully. One little anecdote refers to the unfortunate fate of the writer’s uncle who died of gangrene after stubbing his toe! Ouch.

The narrative is well supported with a large number of black and white images. Many are contemporary, others are of paintings created a century or so later, and there are lots of photos of surviving arms and armour as well as of the castle and the remarkably preserved Queen’s Sconce. There are also a number of rather nice, informative and well-drawn colour maps of the surrounding area and of the sieges and siege lines.

This is another well researched and presented title to add to the growing number of British Civil Wars titles in the Century of the Soldier series.





ISBN 978-1-804515-49-8. Soft back 173 pages.