National Civil War Centre, Newark
As a child I loved the book, Children of the New Forest, about a family of Royalists who had to hide away in the New Forest. I am sure that we must have ‘done’ the Civil War at school, but all I can remember is that it was Roundheads versus Cavaliers.
Of course, most wars aren’t as simple as that. At the Civil War Centre, I learned that the English Civil War was actually three British civil wars and there were more factions involved than Royalist Cavaliers of King Charles I and the Parliamentarians of Cromwell. It was fascinating. It all kicked off with the Bishops’ Wars in Scotland and ended with the Scottish selling the king to the English. Newark was a Royalist town. A Royalist town surrounded by towns who wanted to get rid of the king, so it became the focus of many attacks.
The museum itself is a rather strange mix of things. There is a lot of information which you can read but not much simple explanation for children, although there is plenty of opportunity to dress up – whichever side of the war you want to be on and there are things like pike drills and other activities which you can experience. There is an explanatory app which you can download onto your phone and some short films you can watch which bring the war to life with ‘real’ characters.
The centre also houses changing exhibitions and a museum about the life and history of Newark itself with artefacts ranging from a skeleton of a Roman woman to an Anglo Saxon torque
to a 19th century workman’s smock.
There’s a café attached (of course) and the centre is just a few metres away from the lovely Royal Market Square in the town, the castle remains and the river. So, if you’re looking for something to do this summer, hop on a train to Newark and find out more.
Opening times are: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm but school visits can be arranged Monday to Friday, typically 10am to 2.30pm.
Karisa Krcmar
To find out what special events are on over the summer, take a look at their website: http://www.nationalcivilwarcentre.com/visit/