Castle Comes Alive This Saturday with Day of Discovery and Evening of Fun

During the day, guests to the grounds will be invited to uncover the secret stories of the Castle, exploring the Gatehouse Tower, the Undercroft and other secret places usually closed to the public, all for free. After discovering the scenic location of King John’s demise, there will be a chance to enjoy short performances from the monk who tried to cure him of his ‘surfeit of peaches’, every hour on the hour from 11am until 3pm.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We are so lucky here in Newark to have such a remarkable historic building as Newark Castle right on our doorstep. Opportunities to discover more about its past and to explore its fascinating unseen spaces should be seized and this is a great chance to do so for local people.”

Visitors are encouraged to share their experiences of the day, recording short videos and sending them to newarkcastle@nsdc.info. These will be assembled in a new film, “Stories of Newark Castle”, to conclude the Heritage Open Day festivities.

As the sun sets on this day of discovery, an evening of fun awaits with Together at Twilight, a fantastic heritage and food themed evening from 4pm to 7pm. The event is being organised as part of Newark Creates, a planned programme of cultural activity in the town led by Newark Cultural Consortium for the High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme.

An array of stalls will nestle within the historic castle walls, with local groups and attractions offering fun activities. Plus there’ll be roving street theatre with the Cake Ladies and performances from Jukebox at 5pm and the Muskham Players at 6pm.

Carol Newman, Director of Culture at Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries, the lead partner in the Consortium, said: “We were delighted to see so many families in the town enjoying our Family Play Day and Pop Up Dance events last month so we’re excited to continue building our activity and finding new ways to get local people engaging with culture and heritage. Using the Castle grounds is a great way to celebrate this and it will be fantastic to see this much-loved landmark bustling for an evening of fun.”

The event will also see the launch of a new Heritage Town Trail marking the 50^th anniversary of Newark Ramblers.

To find out more about Heritage Open Days, visit www.heritageopendays.org.uk and for more on Newark Creates, including the latest programme for Together at Twilight, follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NewarkCreatesUK.