£3m grant could be awarded to kick-start gatehouse project at Newark Castle

A £3m grant could be awarded to kick-start an ambitious project to turn the gatehouse at Newark Castle into a major tourist attraction.

The structure, a scheduled ancient monument, is where John King died in 1216, and is one of the finest surviving Norman gatehouses in the country.

However, it is open to the elements and suffers erosion because of the weather and pigeons roosting.

The project by Newark and Sherwood District Council, which owns the castle, would involve installing a roof and reinstating floors to the three-storey structure to create three or four new spaces.

Some of the up to £25m promised to Newark by the Government, subject to acceptable business plans, through the new Towns Fund could be used on the gatehouse project, which struggled to attract funding in the past.

District council leader David Lloyd said: “The castle gatehouse is an exciting project, which has the support of Historic England, the district council and Newark Town Council.

“The project is at a stage where it can be submitted for planning and Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent and we are hopeful that, subject to a funding process with the Heritage Lottery Fund and Newark Towns Fund in late summer, the project will be fully funded.”

The project was previously costed at around £800,000 to deliver in 2015 and it had been hoped that it would be finished in time for the 800th anniversary of King John’s death in 2016.

The plan is to use those areas for interpretations on the history of King John; Norman crime and punishment; the outlaw sub-culture that surrounded Robin Hood; and the castle’s role in the English Civil War.

The ground-floor north-west tower room would become a reception area from where visitors would enter the gatehouse.

It was previously reported that a proposed entrance charge to the gatehouse could generate up to £40,000 a year.

The castle costs about £70,000 to maintain and staff and attracts about 150,000 visitors a year.

It was estimated that it generates more than £200,000 a year in revenue.

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