See English Heritage description.
The Castle Gardens were laid out in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. They were designed by Henry Ernest Miller (1845-1906) and opened in 1889. Prior to the creation of the gardens, the castle grounds had been subject to various uses since the castle was slighted after the Civil War. This had included a bowling green on its southern side (built 1788) with the remainder of the grounds given over to a mix of tenements, stables and workshops. The tenements were cleared in 1839 and the area given over for use as a cattle market, relocating the existing market from nearby Beast Market Hill After the opening of the Gilstrap Library in 1883 the cattle market was relocated again to a site on Tolney Lane. The castle grounds were also the site of the public baths, which were located in the southeast corner fronting Castle Gate, today the site of the baths is occupied by the southeast gate into the gardens. The owners of the baths had, in 1877, taken over part of the castle grounds and maintained them as a garden. The baths are shown on the 1885 town plan, shortly before they were partially cleared to make way for the public gardens. The building immediately adjoining the baths to the south-east, and the lean-to abutting the castle walls survived into the middle of the 20th century; these buildings may have been associated with the maltings which previously fronted the river behind them. Today the site of these buildings is occupied by a sloping curved walkway leading to the riverfront path. No original plans or designs for the Castle Gardens survive, but an engraving of 1887 published in The Newark Advertiser gives an impression of the layout of the main paths and planting. The Castle Gardens were designated a Registered Park and Garden in 1994, as well as sitting within the scheduled area of the castle. The 1887 layout remains largely unchanged today, although the 19th-century style bandstand was not actually erected until 2000 as part of wider regeneration of the gardens. The style of the bandstand echoes others designed by Henry Ernest Milner such as at the Lincoln Botanical Gardens. The regeneration of the gardens in 1999-2000 was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of over half a million pounds. The funding also allowed for the creation of Riverside Park on the opposite bank of the River Trent. (1)
Alexander the right to hold a fair ‘at the castle’ in around 1135, and it is possible that Castle Gate was the site of the castle marketplace referred to in Henry I’s charter. It could therefore, potentially pre-date the laying out of the main market place. Castle Gate is notably wider than Newark’s other medieval streets. It has also been suggested that the width of the street compared to its contemporary neighbours could be a lasting legacy of its supposed historic function as a market. (1)

Notts Historic Gardens Trust, 1995-1997, Notts Historic Parks and Gardens Files (Unpublished document). SNT4553.

<1> Historic England, 2024, Newark on Trent, Historic Area Assessment by Historic England (Unpublished document). SNT6029.