1829 Map of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England

Introduction
The map
The Great North Road
The Castle
Road names
Land ownership
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Main links to other pages on this site

Introduction

This page primarily shows the map of Newark as it was in 1829, but goes on to describe how it relates to more modern roads and buildings mentioned elsewhere in these pages.

The above map can be seen on a much larger scale, in six sections, by clicking on the appropriate part of the map or selecting from this list:
Top left (108,591 bytes)
Top centre (157,799 bytes)
Top right (102,322 bytes)
Bottom left (116,999 bytes)
Bottom centre (151,158 bytes)
Bottom right (95,813 bytes)
Note that there is considerable overlap between the sections, especially between the top and bottom rows.

The entire map represents an area about 1 mile east to west and 0.9 mile north to south. Each section is about 750-800 yards east to west and 0.75 mile north to south. The scale shown in the bottom right corner of the map is in chains. One chain equals 22 yards, so 80 chains equals one mile.

The Great North Road

The fact that it lay on the Great North Road, the main road from London to York and Edinburgh, has been a major factor in the development and history of Newark, yet it is not easy to trace on the 1829 map shown here.

It can be seen entering from the south in the bottom right hand corner of the map, where it is labelled "London Road". Not far from the map edge it reaches a fork, where it originally took the right fork along Baldertongate and Bridge Street to the Market Place. It left the Market Place at the north-east corner along Church Street, turned left along Kirkgate, left again and then immediately right, where the road is marked "Cattle Market", to cross Trent Bridge and proceed along the road marked "Road to Tuxford and Doncaster".

When cars replaced horse-drawn coaches, and probably before that for traffic not choosing to stop, it by-passed the congested town centre by taking the left fork on London Road instead of using Baldertongate, along the road known then as "Beaumond Street", Lombard Street, right onto Castlegate and then left into the Cattle Market (now just a wide road, renamed "Beastmarket Hill").

In the 1960s the route changed again with the building of a dual-carriageway by-pass for Newark. The main road for through traffic now leaves the old road just south of Balderton and passes east of Newark to rejoin the old road at North Muskham, about three miles north of Newark. This means it does not now enter the area covered by this map at all.

The Castle

It is not at all clear from the map just which buildings are/were a part of the castle, nor what is the extent of the castle grounds. If you look at the top centre section of the map, the castle is situated just below half way down and about one third of the way across from the left.

The castle grounds are bounded in the north-west by the river, in the north-east by Beastmarket Hill (named "Cattle Market" on the map), in the south-east by Castlegate and in the south-west by Swan & Salmon Yard (named "Cuckstool Lane" on the map, but difficult to read), although they probably extended further to the south-west when the castle was in its heyday.

By no means all the buildings shown within this area on the map are a part of the castle. The remaining part of the castle itself is shaped roughly as an inverted L, with its long arm almost parallel with the river (shown touching it at its most southerly point), and the short arm parallel with Beastmarket Hill. Three towers can be seen on the map, one at each end and one in the middle of the long arm, with the main gatehouse at the isolated end of the short arm. All the other buildings shown were much more recent and have since been swept away. Before the destruction which followed the Civil War, the castle was much more extensive, and remains have relatively recently been found of another massive building similar to the main gatehouse. It is believed that the building was then roughly rectangular, of which most of one side and part of a second are all that remain, with even parts of those reduced in height.

Road names

As might be expected, many of the very small streets and yards have long since disappeared. Although all the main roads remain more or less as they were in 1829 (a rare phenomenon in Britain), some have changed their names, which can cause confusion. The list below shows the name as on the map followed in each case by the modern name, but it must be emphasised that this is probably not a complete list. If you know of others, I would be grateful if you would please let me know. Many other streets, yards and rows were built after the date of this map and demolished in the middle decades of the twentieth century.

Beaumond Street = extension of London Road
Bowbridge Lane = Bowbridge Road
Cattle Market = Beastmarket Hill
Cherry Holt Lane = Sherwood Avenue (part)
Cuckstool Lane = Swan & Salmon Yard
Farndon Road (from Pelham Street to Millgate) = Victoria Street
Friar's Walk = Friary Road
"From Mansfield & Ollerton" = Kelham Road
Hawton Road (from Portland Street to junction right at edge of map) = Albert Street
Lincoln Row = Slaughterhouse Lane
Lodge Lane = Sherwood Avenue (part)
Mount Lane (western half) = The Mount
"Road from Tuxford & Doncaster" = Great North Road
Sleaford & Boston Road (from Barnbygate to Lodge Lane) = Bedehouse Lane
Sleaford & Boston Road (from Lodge Lane onwards) = Beacon Hill Road
Toney Lane = Tolney Lane
York Street = extension of George Street
[Un-named road] running south-east from Appletongate to junction leading to "Beacon Hill Road" = Sleaford Road
[Un-named road] running north-west from Appletongate to Northgate = Queen's Road

Land ownership

Where names of people are shown on the map, these are the owners of the areas of land indicated. In this way the map shows immediately the extent of the influence of the Duke of Newcastle.