National Civil War Centre

Newark played a vital role in the civil war because it lay at the crossroads of the Great North Road and the Fosse Way and provided an important route over the River Trent.

In a desperate attempt to oust the Royalist garrison, the Parliamentary forces and their Scottish allies sealed off the town and blocked the river to stop water mills producing bread and gunpowder. Typhus and plague broke out killing off a third of the inhabitants, and many of the local buildings were destroyed.

King Charles eventually surrendered to the Scots, hoping to drive a wedge between them and their English Parliamentary allies, but they insisted that Newark must yield immediately. He had no choice but to order the garrison to lay down its arms.

Half starved and disease ridden, 1,800 Cavaliers marched out, leaving behind 12 artillery pieces. The Mayor said they must 'Trust in God and Sally Forth', a term which has become the town's motto. Despite the huge significance of the British Civil Wars, there is nowhere else in the UK which tells the complete story.