Apparently dates from 1489. Although stuccoed now, it is clearly the r. half [really two thirds - JW] of a Wealden-type building, i.e. with a jettied wing alongside a recessed section. (1)

A total of 32 samples were collected from timbers in 1993. Dendro analysis produced an estimated felling date of 1452. (2)

1452. Wealdon Type, jettied west bay. (3)

A timber-framed building, dating from around 1452. It is unclear how long it has been a public house. Formerly known as the Woolpack, few documentary records appear to have survived although it is mentioned in a lease in 1798. The building is significantly lower than its neighbours as it is only two storeys, with brick to the ground floor and a timber-frame above. It is formed of two bays, the easternmost of which has a first-floor jetty and was thus floored while the western bay was originally an open hall, both housed under a single roof structure running parallel to the street. Thus, it was built as a Wealden or half-Wealden house type. The full Wealden or ‘recessed-hall house’ characteristically had an open hall flanked on both side by floored, jettied end-bays under a single roof. Although once considered a form of building seen predominantly in the rural south-east of England, it is now recognised as an urban building type, with a wider geographic distribution although most identified examples are still in the south-east. (4)

The reanalysis of timber samples taken in 1993 as resulted in the dating of twelve beams used in the construction of The Woolpack. It is now known that one was from a tree felled in AD 1446, one from a tree felled in AD 1449, and six from trees felled in AD 1451, with another four having estimated felling date ranges consistent with a felling date of AD 1451 also. However, when the samples are looked at under the microscope it is possible to see that spring cell growth for the following year has just begun on three of the samples dted to AD 1451. This would give a felling date for these timbers of spring 1452, and would suggest that the building was constructed soon after. (5)

Listed buildings slides, 41 slides (Photograph). SNT2648.

Graham Beaumont, Woolpack Inn (Plan). SNT4421.

Graham Beaumont & C. Minors, 1990's, The Woolpack Stodman St (Plan). SNT4377.

Graham Beaumont, 21/1/93, The Woolpack Stodman St (Plan). SNT2656.

External Architect: Chris Miners, Dec. 1993, The Woolpack Stodman St (Plan). SNT4263.

December 93, The Woolpack, Stodman Street (Plan). SNT3472.

December 93, The Woolpack, Stodman Street (Plan). SNT3512.

<1> Pevsner N, 1979, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire 2nd ed., p 196 (Monograph). SNT4.

<2> Nottingham Tree Ring Dating Laboratory, 1993, Woolpack Inn, Stodman Street, Newark - Dendro Report (Unpublished document). SNT5127.

<3> John Samuels Archaeological Consultants, 1995, A Survey of Timber Framed Buildings of Newark, Stage 1 (Unpublished document). SNT2173.

<4> Historic England, 2024, Newark on Trent: Historic Area Assessment by Historic England (Unpublished document). SNT6029.

<5> A.J. Arnold, R.E Howard, R.R Laxton, C.D Litton, 2002, The Urban Development of Newark-on-Trent: A Dendrochronological Approach (Monograph). SNT1624.