In this series of short articles, we would like to introduce you to some of the highlights of living in Newark on Trent.
This article focuses on one of the historic buildings which surrounds our town's market square. Newark is a town steeped in history and in the market square everywhere you look is an interesting building.
On the north side stands a fine building with its front carried on pillars, this is the old Moot Hall. The Moot Hall was originally erected in 1708 on the site of the earlier ‘Kings Hall’ and was where the courts of the important Manor of Newark were conducted before the Town Hall was built.
In this building the small legal cases were heard, punishments handed down, land tenures settled and agricultural rents were paid.
In 1836 the Moot Hall was purchased by the Duke of Newcastle and high up on the building still appears the coat of arms of John Holles (3rd Duke of Newcastle), charged with that of his wife, Margaret Cavendish, on an escutcheon of pretence. In the marriage of a man and an heiress, her arms are displayed on his, in an escutcheon of pretence.
However, the building you see embodies the age old debate of “if the blade of an axe is replaced and then its handle, is it still the same axe”. In 1964-65 the Moot Hall was carefully demolished and then rebuilt brick by brick around a modern steel frame using the original materials, so is this an original building or a replica? The rebuilding is commemorated by a plaque on the wall.
The Moot hall has seen many businesses under its roof, in 1953 it was occupied by Phillips the rope-maker and Coyne’s radio and music shop, a fascinating article written by Bill Coyne can be read by clicking here on ournottinghamshire website. Today the building is occupied by the worldwide coffee shop Starbucks.
