Editorial: Brick in Newark-on-Trent

摘要

The British Brick Society held its 2011 Annual General Meeting in the Nottinghamshire town of Newark. Newark might not instantly be thought of as a town with much of brick interest. The principal approach to the town from the south-west is dominated by the Bishop of Lincoln's castle, first constructed in the second quarter of the twelfth century by Bishop Alexander between 1123 and 1148 and kept in good repair by the bishops for the next four centuries: it was a day's ride from Lincoln. The last major medieval work, financed by Thomas Rotherham in the 1470s, involved a substantial reordering of the great hall and the provision of a private audience chamber for the bishop. Only after 1547 when the castle was surrendered to the crown in the great pillage of episcopal residences - to paraphrase the late W.G. Hoskins - did upkeep of the castle cease, so much so that in 1581 the building was "in great ruin and decay". It was repaired in 1587 and, surprisingly, became defensible when this became necessary just over half a century later.