Holy River

I was out walking away from the mad shopping crowds down by the holy river 'Trent' in Newark on Christmas Eve and thought seeing as the day was almost spring like I'd take some photo's.

The Trent was called the Trisantona by the Romans and later it was called the Treonte in the 8th century. In the medieval heraldic world the Trent was a border between two kings of arms provinces and the term 'born north of the Trent' signified someone born from the north of England.

Above is the 'Castle Barge' pub which is just to the left of the bridge when entering Newark, it gets very busy in summer and attracts mainly a young crowd at weekends. I like it because now and again they'll play some alternative stuff. It is bigger inside than you think, comprising of two decks, originally it was a grain barge built in 1923.

Next up is Newark castle that sits neatly beside the Trent. The castle was built between 1125-35, it was founded by the bishop of Lincoln known as Alexander the magnificent. excavation work found bones that were dated back to the Saxon times and it's thought that a Saxon manor was also built on the site. King John died in Newark castle 1216 from excessive eating and drinking. The castle was a royalist stronghold in the civil war and withstood 3 long sieges, when in 1646 King Charles was captured at nearby Southwell the parliamentarians ordered the townsfolk to pull the castle down, as you can see they didn't really do a good job!

This is a view of the rear of the castle, part of the gate house that still stands.