News

News feeds |

Recalling scold's punishment

A few weeks ago I wrote about some of Newark's vanished street names and their origins.

A number of Advertiser readers contacted me with additional information on the subject so this week I would like to present a further investigation into some of the lost names of Newark.

One street which at first glance may not appear to fall into the category of 'lost' is Wellington Road but it nevertheless has a most interesting history.

Compared with other streets in its vicinity Wellington Road - which connects Sleaford Road and Beacon Hill Road - is a relatively new creation.

The urban district council sanctioned a proposal to construct a new street of housing here in July 1871 and originally gave it the name of New Sleaford Road.

However owing to the peculiar circumstance whereby wooden gates were fixed at either end the road quickly became more widely referred to as Clappergates.

Why such gates were considered necessary is not entirely clear but whatever the reason they did not prove to be particularly long-lived being removed soon after to cover the entrance to an orchard on Sleaford Road.

Wellington Road meanwhile continued under its original name of New Sleaford Road until December 1885 when (perhaps owing to the confusion this name presented) it was officially renamed Wellington Road presumably after the famous first Duke of Wellington - the so-called Iron Duke (1769-1852) - who had some slight connection with Newark when in September 1829 on his way to Doncaster races he passed a night at the Clinton Arms Hotel in the market place.

Unusual though the gated entrances to Wellington Road undoubtedly were they were not entirely unique in Newark. Pelham Street connecting Portland Street and Millgate is also reported to have once been gated the circumstances giving rise to its earlier name of Turnstile Close.

Another area of the town which took its name from an associated structure is Cuckstool Wharf - although instead of wooden gates the structure which once stood here was the town's ducking stool.

Cuckstool Wharf is located beside the River Trent immediately below the southwest tower of Newark Castle (pictured) and is today part of the pleasant riverside walk which leads towards the town lock and Millgate.

Thousands of pleasure-seekers must walk past Cuckstool Wharf every year but how many of them are aware of the dark events which once took place here?

The cuckstool or ducking stool was popular in medieval times as a punishment for those who were convicted of public drunkenness brawling or otherwise disturbing the peace.

It was usually reserved for women offenders who once strapped into the purpose-built chair were swung out over the river (whilst no doubt being liberally pelted by the mob) and ducked into the waters for the prescribed number of times.

Women who were convicted of public order offences were referred to as Scolds. A meeting of the Newark Corporation in 1565 resolved that "If any woman shall Skolde or disquiet her neybors she shall be punyshed uppon the Cuckstole..."

It was a dictate which appears to have remained in force for more than 200 years for while use of the ducking stool is generally said to have died out in England by the middle of the 18th Century its use is recorded in Newark as late as 1801.

Returning to the subject of interesting street names one further example which merits attention in Newark is Strawberry Hall Lane off Lincoln Road.

Until 1949 Strawberry Hall Lane was officially known as Clarke's Lane being named after a Mr William Clarke who in the mid-19th Century operated a nursery and market garden in that vicinity.

By the 1880s Clarke's house situated near the junction with Lincoln Road was being referred to on Ordnance Survey maps as Strawberry Hall - presumably a name first acquired by the property in recognition of the produce grown behind.

Remembering Clarke's nursery in the early part of this century one former local resident a Mr William Beech has written: "Strawberry Hall used to be a great resort in the summer time during the fruit season.

There were many large arbors formed out of ash and drooping willow trees with seats all round where ladies and gents would sit and enjoy the fruit purchased at the entrance. It used to be crowded on a Sunday afternoon and evening."

For a brief period during the second world war however when 58 MU were stationed there a refuse dump was established at the eastern end of Clarke's Lane rendering it more familiar to local people under the name Muck Lane.

It is probably not too surprising therefore that in 1949 when housing development began in earnest it should be accompanied by a renaming of the road - Clarke's Lane was dropped in favour of Strawberry Hall Lane.

It is interesting to note however that within the last 12 months or so Clark(e)'s Lane has resurfaced among the new housing development known as Strawberry Fields at the eastern end of Strawberry Hall Lane.

ABOVE: Newark's Cuckstool Wharf beside the Trent and beneath the southwest tower of Newark Castle.
BOTTOM: A medieval woodcut illustrates the use of the ducking stool.

<Back