Supporting Newark’s Communities
By Anna Herbert
The Reawakening of St Mary Magdalene is officially subtitled “Supporting Newark’s Communities”, and that is one of our key aims. We are working with lots of different groups across Newark (and further afield) to run activities inspired by the heritage of St Mary’s to bring the history to life. Using the art and architecture of our Parish Church to kick off conversations, inspire future generations of historians and heritage professionals, and encourage people to visit us at St Mary’s when we re-open in 2026 is incredibly rewarding. We have had a very busy couple of weeks on the Reawakening project running lots of activities and training across Newark. Find out some of the things we have been up to recently below:
Using arts and crafts to explore the heritage of St Mary Magdalene
Newark Scouts
We made two visits to meet the bright and energetic young people who make up Newark Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. We had a lovely time chatting to them about Medieval stone carvings, stained glass, and wood carvings. The Squirrels and Beavers made a grotesque each after looking at pictures of gargoyles and grotesques on St Mary’s, while the Cubs and Scouts had the chance to make their own piece of art inspired by Medieval Stained Glass, and their own Green Man or Foliate Head mask. We had two really enjoyable sessions!
A Newark Scout creating their own piece of Medieval Stained Glass
Storytelling Training
The Reawakening Project employs a storyteller, Nicky Rafferty, to work with different groups in the community, using stories as a way to engage people of all ages. Nicky has a wonderfully energetic style, which works equally well with toddlers and octogenarians! She has been concentrating on providing continuous professional development storytelling training for a number of different organisations throughout Newark, and has delivered training to staff at REACH and Adicare in recent weeks. The training is a great way to develop language and confidence in conveying information. We are looking forward to delivering training to staff at Hope House School in the coming weeks.
Medieval Masterpieces
The first week of April culminated in a Medieval extravaganza, exploring building crafts, meeting Medieval labourers and creating weird creatures inspired by Medieval art and architecture.
The Company of Artisans, a duo who specialise in historic building conservation and Medieval reenactment, showed our visitors how to make a Medieval tile, and how Medieval buildings were built when the majority of masons were illiterate.
Visitors got to try on Medieval armour, and have a go at planning out their own building. We had a marvellous time exploring all things Medieval!
A group of young future Medievalists learning about Medieval life
Make Your Mark Workshops
We are excited to be collaborating with Newark Creates and Newark Castle on a new public art trail, which will wind eventually wind its way through Newark. We are working with Pickle Illustration to create some cocreated community art work.
The wonderful artists at Pickle Illustration, Lauren and Liv guided us through collage activities inspired by the memories, communities and the landscape of Newark. We really wanted to get to grips with what local people want from this new art work.
Initially, we have commissioned 6 pieces of art, but we aim to expand the trail later in the year. The 6 early pieces will be displayed on the hoarding at St Mary Magdalene Church, before moving to permanent locations at Newark Castle and St Mary Magdalene once building work has been completed at both sites.
Lauren and Liv from Pickle Illustration led four wonderful workshops on Monday 14th with people from across the community. One contributor said; “It was very thought provoking and made me feel proud of our beautiful town and all it has to offer!”
We can’t wait to see the finished art work!
Two young contributors enjoyed collaging Newark landmarks
If you feel you could benefit from storytelling training or you have a group that you think would enjoy learning about their local heritage, then get in touch with us at heritage@stmnewark.org