This road was once the main road to Newark and later part of the Mansfield to Sleaford turnpike road, which veered towards Sleaford near the Plough on Main St. It had a distinctive dog-leg at Catch’em Inn corner (as shown on Chapman’s 1774 map) but this disappeared under the A1 in 1964.
Aerial photo of Newark Rd A1 area.
In Victorian times the road, was lined with large horse chestnut trees and woodland marking the boundary of the parkland of Coddington Hall, home of the Thorpe family from the 1840s. Rural homes servicing the Hall included the lodge, laundry, gamekeeper and butler’s cottages. There was lime quarrying and burning activity in this area. In 1872 a new parsonage was built here to go with the smart rebuilt church. The sale of the Thorpe Estate made plots of land available. Houses began to be built from the late 1920s, then later in the 1960 – 1980s, as plots were divided and side roads developed.
During WW2, the Hall’s integration into Winthorpe Airbase had a large impact on the appearance of the road – with its site fence, gate and Site No 2 buildings close to the Lodge. Afterwards sideroads were developed, first Parklands Close, then the Harvey Avenue Estate, Old Hall Gardens and lastly Penswick Close. The Harvey Avenue estate (known locally as Coddington Camp) and Hall areas were redeveloped in the last 15 years, becoming the Beaconsfield Drive and Thorpe Oak Estates. The current post office and several of the older buildings cluster around the former lodge of the Hall.
Newark Road suffered major disruption when the A1 was built. A new access road left the west end of the road a dead end, Greenways and Greenfields were left isolated and Catch’em Inn farmstead was lost. The road used to run up to the top of Brownlow’s Hill to meet Balderton Lane and Main St. It now ends at a remodelled junction at the base of Brownlow’s Hill near the Fishpond and the new School) and has lost its function as the main road to Newark.