A small village with deep history
Hawton
A Grade I church, surviving siege earthworks and paths towards the Trent give Hawton more to explore than its population of 80 suggests.
- Best for
- Medieval church carving and Civil War history
- Start with
- All Saints' Church and Hawton Redoubt
- Don't miss
- The church's c.1330 Easter Sepulchre
The Fox verdict
Come for one remarkable church, then follow Hawton's wider story
Hawton's strongest visitor draw is All Saints', backed by visible Civil War earthworks, lakeside recreation and footpath links towards Farndon.
The Grade I church contains an elaborate Easter Sepulchre rediscovered during its 1843–44 restoration, while Hawton Redoubt preserves part of the Parliamentarian siege line around Newark. Hawton Waters adds fishing and lake activities for adult guests, and nearby Newark supplies the castle, Civil War museum and pub that Hawton itself lacks.
Where to go
Places in Hawton
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesAll Saints' Church
A Grade I church whose c.1330 Easter Sepulchre shows sleeping Roman soldiers, the risen Christ, apostles and a tiny carved footprint; the carving was rediscovered during the 1843–44 restoration after being plastered over.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Hawton
Hawton Waters
An 800-acre lakeside estate with lodges, a shepherd's hut and touring pitches, plus fishing, paddleboarding, rowing and open-water swimming.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 120 minutes
- Locality
- Cotham Lane, Hawton
- Access
- Adults-only; fishing is free for guests.
Farndon Circular Walk
A circular walk from Farndon and its marina that follows the River Trent and its wildlife.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- the nearby riverside village of Farndon and its marina
Food & drink
1 placeThe Castle Barge
A converted grain barge moored on the River Trent and used as a pub for the last four decades.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- Newark
History & heritage
3 placesHawton Redoubt
Surviving earthworks from Hawton's Parliamentarian encampment during the Siege of Newark; three redoubts were built here in late 1645 as part of the roughly 14-mile siege ring.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Hawton
Newark Castle and Gardens
Free riverside castle grounds at a site described in the research as nearly 900 years old.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Newark-on-Trent
National Civil War Centre
Newark's Civil War museum provides a nearby companion stop to Hawton's Parliamentarian redoubt and the Civil War bullet hole in the church door.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Newark-on-Trent
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Three ways to explore Hawton
Signature outings
The bullet-marked door
All Saints' front door carries a bullet hole attributed to Cromwell's troops, while local tradition says its handles once offered sanctuary from arrest.
Newark's riverside castle
Newark Castle and Gardens offers free riverside grounds at a site described in the research as nearly 900 years old.
A pint on a grain barge
The Castle Barge is a converted grain barge moored on the Trent that has served as a pub for the last four decades.
The village story
Hawton Village Guide
A source-locked account of Hawton's church, landscape, small businesses, recreation, siege earthworks and links with Newark.
The Church Door and the River Plain
All Saints' Church has a bullet hole in its own front door, left by Cromwell's troops during the siege of Newark two miles up the road. The door handles, according to local tradition, once offered sanctuary from arrest.
You're two miles south of Newark-on-Trent here, in flat country where the River Devon slips through water meadows on its way to the Trent. Hawton had 80 people at the last census and covers a little over two square miles. Footpaths link it to Thorpe, Cotham and Farndon — the four villages share a single parish benefice, which tells you how closely they're stitched together on foot.
Pubs and Village Businesses
There's no pub in Hawton itself, and no record of one having existed. For a proper pint you go to Newark: the Prince Rupert, or the Castle Barge, a grain barge moored on the Trent and doing duty as a pub for the last forty years. The Royal Oak at Car Colston, tucked behind the village green, is the other option, a few miles the other way.
Hawton keeps two small businesses going. The Newark Saddler does saddle restoration and fitting, run by Harriet Haivers. Future Fishing sells tackle. That's it — no butcher, no bakery, no general shop.
Hawton Waters and the Trent Walk
For fishing on a larger scale there's Hawton Waters, an 800-acre lakeside estate on Cotham Lane with lodges, a shepherd's hut and touring pitches. Guests fish free — carp over 38lb have come out of the lake, along with pike, bream, roach and rudd — and there's paddleboarding, rowing and open-water swimming. It's adults-only.
The Farndon Circular Walk follows the Trent from the marina at Farndon, a short walk from Hawton along the shared footpaths.
Church Carvings and Siege Earthworks
All Saints' itself is Grade I listed and worth the detour on its own. Pevsner called the chancel "one of the most exciting pieces of architecture in the country." Inside, on the north wall, is an Easter Sepulchre carved around 1330: sleeping Roman soldiers at the base, the risen Christ with his graveclothes draped over one shoulder, and apostles gazing up at a pair of ascending feet, complete with a carved footprint. It survived Cromwell's men because someone had plastered over it — restorers found it again in 1843, and a plaster cast went to the Great Exhibition eight years later. The carving is thought too good for a village this size, and scholars wonder if Hawton was meant to be something grander — a collegiate church that never quite happened.
Outside, the earthworks are still visible: three redoubts built here in 1645, part of the Parliamentarian ring around Royalist Newark, fourteen miles of trenches holding 16,000 men against a garrison of 2,500. It's a Scheduled Monument now, in fields that also turn out, in 1086, to have supported four separate Domesday manors and two churches — an early confirmation that people were worshipping on this spot before the Conquest.
Newark Links and the Hidden Well
Newark itself is five minutes by car: free castle grounds, a Market Square antiques fair with some 4,000 stalls, and Newark Castle station beyond it. Hawton's own transport is the NottsBus On Demand service, bookable by app, mornings into early afternoon, Monday to Saturday.
St Catherine's Well, the spring that once fed Hawton's long-vanished flax mill, still exists — under a metal drain cover in someone's private garden, doing nothing in particular, the way old wells do once the villages around them stop needing water from the ground.
Stay around Nottinghamshire
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Nottinghamshire, linked directly to their property pages.
Nottingham
Camila's Penthouse Central Stay with Balcony
- Sleeps 16
- 5 bedrooms
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Anna's Central Stay
- Sleeps 16
- 5 bedrooms
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Blair's Central Stay
- Sleeps 16
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Melissa's Central Stay
- Sleeps 13
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Stephanie's Central Stay
- Sleeps 6
- 2 bedrooms
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- All Saints' Church — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Hawton Redoubt — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Hawton Waters — hawtonwaters.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Farndon Circular Walk — nottinghamshire.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Newark Castle and Gardens — newarkcastleandgardens.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- National Civil War Centre — nationalcivilwarcentre.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Castle Barge — castlebarge.com operator, sector body or destination organisation