English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Newark

Major Settlement in the Parish of Borough of Newark

Historical Forms

  • Newarcha 1060–6 KCD818 c.1200
  • Niweweorce c.1080 Eynsham c.1195
  • Neuwerca c.1130 RegAntiq
  • Niwerc 1154–6 ib
  • Neuuerche 1086 DB
  • Newerc(h)e ib. et passim, with variant spellings Newerc, Newerk(e) and Niwerc(h)e, Neuwerc(h)e
  • Niwewerch 1175,1176 P
  • Neowerch' 1215 RegAntiq
  • Nouwerk 1235 Ch

Etymology

'The new “work” or fortification,' v. (ge)weorc. The date of its foundation is uncertain, though it was undoubtedly pre- Conquest. The name was presumably given in contrast to Old-wark infra 222, the site of the Romano-British Margidunum , eleven miles to the south-west along the Fosse Way.