Local Heritage at Newark Library

The Local Heritage section at Newark Library is at the rear of the building with level access throughout.

The collection contains a range of material relating to Newark and the surrounding area, with background material on Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.

You will find resources to help you trace:

•         History of local places
•         Recent local developments
•         Transport
•         Local industries/businesses
•         Social history
•         Local politics
•         Family history
•         History of individual buildings

The book collection has approximately 2000 volumes, including works by local authors, and standard works such as Cornelius Brown’s ‘History of Newark-on-Trent’.
Features of the collection include material relating to the English Civil Wars (1642-49) and the role played by Newark , and local industries such as malting, brewing and iron-founding.

Some items are only available to be consulted in the library, but wherever possible we offer a loan copy of the title as well. The majority can be searched for on the library catalogue but some are not yet included. The Local Studies classification numbers can be used to find books on specific themes e.g. L90.2 Newark is the reference for titles concerned with the history of the town in general, but topics such as Education in Newark have a specific number – indexes are available, and staff will be able to help.

Periodicals include:

• The Nottinghamshire Historian
• Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire (history and archaeology)
• Parish magazines for the town and some surrounding villages
• East Midlands History and Heritage

The library has complete files, on microfilm of local newspapers:

Newark Advertiser                                                     1855-2018

Newark Herald                                                            1791-1792, 1873-1960

Newark Times                                                             1839-1841

Ollerton, Edwinstowe and Bilsthorpe Times          April 1938-April 1941

South Notts Advertiser                                              1854

There is a card index covering the 1850s to c.1980.

N.B. Not all Nottinghamshire titles are currently included in the British Newspaper Archive, although there may be relevant articles in other titles accessible via this FREE subscription available in Inspire Libraries and at Nottinghamshire Archives.
A list of Nottinghamshire titles in digital format on the British Newspaper Archive can be found here.

Three microfilm/microfiche reader and printer machines are provided, including a digital scanner.

The trade directories, covering the period from around 1784 to 1971, give contemporary information about Newark, including listings of local industries, and prominent people. There is also wide coverage for Nottinghamshire directories in microfiche format.

Information about Local Government includes minutes of the Borough and Town Council of Newark, although back copies of these are stored off-site.

There is also a set of local electoral registers from 1832 to 2000.

Ephemera boxes have been compiled over many years containing news cuttings, leaflets and ephemera on local themes.

The photograph collection includes around 5000 images, covering the period from the 1850s to the 1980s.
These are filed by theme and an index to the classification scheme is available.

Over 25,000 Nottinghamshire images have been digitised and are available on the Inspire Picture Archive.

5 cabinets, containing maps and plans, cover the period from around 1790 to the early 21st century.

These include Ordnance Survey large scale 6-inch and 25-inch plans (plus metric equivalents) of the area from c.1880. Maps are available to browse. If you have a specific query about mapping please contact us direct via Ask Inspire.

Census Returns for the Newark and neighbouring parishes, from 1841 to 1901, are available on microfiche, but the free access to Ancestry.co.uk in libraries and at Nottinghamshire Archives is often a more convenient way of searching for Census information.

Parish Registers on microfiche cover Newark (and surrounding parishes) from 1600 into the Twentieth Century (where they survive).

Averham, Balderton, Barnby in the Willows, Bilsthorpe, Bleasby,  Blidworth, Boughton, Bulcote, Burton Joyce, Carlton on Trent, Caunton, Coddington, Cotham, Cromwell, Eakring, East Stoke, Edingley, Edwinstowe, Egmanton, Elston, Epperstone, Farndon, Farnsfield, Flintham, Gedling, Gonalston, Halam, Halloughton, Harby,  Hawton, Hockerton, Holme (Newark), Hoveringham, Kelham, Kilvington, Kirklington, Kirton, Kneesall, Langford, Laxton, Lenton Priory, Lowdham, Maplebeck, Morton, North Clifton, North Collingham, North Muskham, Norwell, Ollerton, Ossington, Oxton, Perlethorpe, Rolleston, South Collingham, South Muskham, South Scarle, Southwell, Staunton, Sutton upon Trent, Syerston, Thorney, Thorpe, Thurgarton, Upton, Walesby, Wellow, Weston, Winkburn and  Winthorpe

Microfiche copies in the library have been well-used for many years, but from August 2022 the majority of records are available via Inspire's FREE subscription to Ancestry.co.uk. A full list of those available online is here.

A separate family history collection of some key titles to help with the process of researching family history is also available in general library stock.

For help with specific enquiries please contact Ask Inspire.

Archival records such as wills, diaries, original parish registers, business and personal correspondence etc. are held at NottinghamshireArchives:

County House
Castle Meadow Road
Nottingham
NG2 1AG
Email: archives@inspireculture.org.uk
Tel: 0115 9581634