National Civil War Centre
Opened in 2015, the museum is a modern extension to a Tudor Grammar School. A collection of all things to do with the wars, with a permament and special exhibitions, it shows different aspects of the period and clears up a number of myths.
The original school has been retained as an open hall.
1644-46 - The sieges of Newark
March 2015, May 2016
We wanted to show how the wars affected ordinary people, rather than a solider's life. Newark was held under siege by the Parliment army a number of times. Many families were made homeless, not just by the bombardment, but also by the battlements erected to keep them out. As well as splitting the town, the battlements went straight through many houses.
With so many people homeless, we wondered what it might be like if the school hall became a refugee home. With the school master hosting, and carpenters making make shift beds, the hall filled with families carrying all their possessions settling in any space they could find.
