There were few places left untouched by the Second World War, and the Sherwood Forest and Newark area is no different. Although it’s normally synonymous with medieval history and myth, this ancient forest and the wider area of Newark made an important contribution to the war effort and in the years since has become custodian for narratives of remembrance and reflection. These fascinating and important stories have been kept alive, often in the places where they happened, and by people who are passionate to share and remember them.
Below is a guide to some of the locations in the Sherwood Forest and Newark area that have a link to the Second World War. You can learn more about them from the information and videos below, click the links to their individual websites, and visit them to explore the Spirit of Wartime Sherwood’s history for yourself.
Visit these places, see their stories, walk in their footsteps.
Visit These Sites, See Their Stories, Walk in Their Footsteps…
National Trust Clumber Park
Managed by the National Trust, Clumber Park is an expanse of parkland, heath and woodland that covers over 3,800 acres and was once the country estate of the Dukes of Newcastle. As with many estates across the country, with the outbreak of the Second World War Clumber was leased to the Ministry of Defence and the park was repurposed to help the national war effort.
The park was used for storing over 60,000 tons of ammunition as well as hosting soldiers, women from the Auxiliary Territorial Services (ATS) and being an agricultural site for The Women’s Land Army.
Clumber also became the test site for a secret trench-cutting machine. Built by Naval Land Engineers (NLE), the machine took on the nickname “Nellie”. The trials took place on the south side of the lake and Churchill even visited in 1941 to see Nellie in action. However, the machine never reached production as methods of warfare changed and the project was cancelled soon after, with protypes dismantled. You can, however, still see the trenches that Nellie dug on the south side of the lake.
Southwell Minster
The Cathedral and Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary has stood in the centre of Southwell for centuries, today inspiring all who come as pilgrims or tourists. The Minster is a place of beauty, contemplation and history, sharing narratives from the Roman period to the Second World War.
In the Airmen’s Chapel the altar was made in 1919 by RAF apprentices from broken propeller blades found in France. The Triptych is by Hamish Moyle. A memorial tablet by Ronald Sims commemorates the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre, in which 14,500 Polish prisoners of war were killed. An urn containing soil from the forest is held within the wall behind it. During the second World War many Polish refugees came to Britain to fly with the RAF or to work the Nottinghamshire coalfields. The large Polish community in the county holds an annual service here.
Although created in Medieval times, the world renowned stone carved plants, animals and greenmen decorating the Chapter House have an unexpected link to the War. They are collectively known as “The Leaves of Southwell”, taken from a King Penguin Classic monograph published in 1945 in which architecture historian Sir Nicholas Pevsner described the carvings. He had come to work in England as an academic in 1933, escaping the Nazi regime as he was a Jewish-born German experiencing persecutory restrictions.
Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum at Thoresby
The RLNY is a small military museum blessed with an amazingly rich collection of historical artefacts. These illustrate the distinguished service of three cavalry regiments, all with close links to Nottinghamshire, over three centuries of British history. The Museum aims to capture not only important historical events, but also the personal experiences of the soldiers whose courage and selfless commitment have shaped the modern incarnations of these regiments.
The RLNY museum includes the experiences of the three regiments through the Second World War and the contribution each made to the war effort as well as remembering those lost.
The Sherwood Rangers had supported every British infantry division in theatre, plus three US infantry divisions, by the end of the Second World War. It is understandable that General Sir Brian Horrocks, who had the Regiment under his command from August 1942 to May 1945, wrote on the occasion of the Regiment being disembodied “I can hardly imagine a British Army without the Sherwood Rangers and there is no doubt no armoured regiment can show a finer record of hard fighting”. He later added, “I still maintain that the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry took part in more fighting than did any other armoured regiment during this period.”
The 17th/21st Lancers were deployed to North Africa initially, playing a leading role in the victory at the Battle of Fondouk and other key events. Moving on to Italy, the Regiment then found themselves having to improvise and engineer a river crossing where a bridge was not in place.
The South Notts Hussars fought at the Battle of Knightsbridge, in North Africa, in 1942. During this operation, the Regiment was ordered to fight ‘to the last round’ after all supporting forces had withdrawn. The last round was fired with a Panzer IV only twenty yards in front of the last remaining gun.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Newark Upon Trent Cemetery
During the Second World War there were a number of R.A.F. stations within a few miles of Newark, from many of which operated squadrons of the Polish Air Force. A special plot was set aside in Newark Cemetery for R.A.F. burials and this is now the war graves plot, where all but ten of the 90 Commonwealth and all of the 397 Polish burials were made.
A memorial cross to the Polish airmen buried here was erected in the plot and was unveiled in 1941 by President Raczkiewicz, ex-President of the Polish Republic and head of the war time Polish Government in London, supported by General Sikorski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Forces and war time Polish Prime Minister.
When both men subsequently died, General Sikorski in 1943 and President Raczkiewicz in 1947, they were buried at the foot of the Polish Memorial. General Sikorski’s remains were returned to Poland in 1993, but there is still a memorial to him at Newark.
National Holocaust Centre & Museum
This inspirational place holds two permanent exhibitions, one of which is dedicated to age-appropriate teaching for younger children about the Holocaust. It also has a memorial and reflective space, teaching space, beautiful landscaped memorial gardens and galleries to learn about the Holocaust and encourage personal responsibility and the promotion of fairness and justice but also challenge learners to take positive action.
The Memorial Gardens are set in an acre of beautifully landscaped countryside and provide an important counterpoint to the historical museum. The gardens provide space for reflection and places for individuals to remember their families.
Using award winning, innovative technology, NHCM has pioneered The Forever Project, capturing oral testimonies from Holocaust survivors which allows visitors and school children to ask questions and hear responses and testimonies virtually as a legacy now and for future generations.
Newark Air Museum
The air museum is located on part of the former World War Two airfield of RAF Winthorpe. Aviation heritage has been at the centre of this historical site for more than forty five years. Very little remains of the original wartime buildings and what remains of the original runways are no longer fit for use. The diverse collection of aircraft and cockpit sections covers the history of aviation.
Lancaster Corner contains an unusual array of World War II artefacts associated with the famous Lancaster bomber and wartime RAF Winthorpe, which was a major training base for 5 Group Bomber Command. Highlights include the fuselage section of IX(B) Squadron Lancaster W4964 WS-J featuring the nose art of the ‘Johnnie Walker’ whiskey company and the exhibit still wears its original wartime paintwork, and a ‘boucing bomb’.
The museum also has a Victory Garden complete with reconstructed Anderson Shelter, and Memorial Garden with permanant memorials to personnel that served with 1661 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit), at RAF Winthorpe on land that the museum owns and that we call the Southfield Site and others.
RSPB Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre and Nature Reserve
Sherwood Forest is a beautiful ancient landscape, steeped in history and rich with wildlife. Once a royal hunting ground, Sherwood is full of ancient oaks that have stood tall for over 500 years. One of the most magnificent is the Major Oak. Thought to be 1,000 years old, legend has it that it was once the favourite hideout of Sherwood Forest’s most famous resident: Robin Hood.
He wasn’t the only one to hide here though, during the Second World War the army used the trees to hide tanks and ammunition, building a railway system in the Forest and a series of pits with corrugated iron roofs to house bullets and supplies. Soldiers trained on the heathland and camps were formed to muster ready for D-Day. A Prisoner of War camp was created just beyond the cricket pitch in the forest. As visitors walk through the forest, you can look out for clues of thes wartime activities including compacted grey stones on the paths where tanks would have been driven, pits along the sides of the pathways on the red route and metal pegs in the ground from the railway tracks on the heath.
Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum
Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum began as a small collection of mining memorabilia and has developed into a museum highlighting the mining and social history of Bilsthorpe and the wider Sherwood area.
During World War Two, when there was a shortage of mine workers, Ernest Bevin instigated the idea of sending one out of ten new conscripts to go to the mines, random numbers were picked and those men and boys were sent to mining villages.
They did not have a choice; it was that or prison. We have a history of the Bevin Boys, as they were known, as well as WW11 personal artifacts which can be seen at the museum.
This website was produced for The Sherwood Forest Trust for any questions, feedback or comments please email here
Spirit of Wartime Sherwood - Second World War Trail 