Newark Town & District Club
About Us
The Newark Town District Club is a private gentleman's
establishment situated in the old market town of Newark On Trent,
centrally located in the town; this venue is one of the most unique
and best-kept secrets in the region.
Club History
The Newark Town & District Club was formed in 1865 as a Gentlemen’s Club for men living and working in and around Newark. Its aims and aspirations were unashamedly middle class because it had a dress code, subscriptions and a vetting process for applicants.
But, as individual wealth has increased over the years and class systems have been broken down, the Club can now claim to be more accessible and less elitist than it has ever been.
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In its early days the Club met in rooms above the Robin Hood Hotel on Lombard Street. (seen below).
For more history about the Robin Hood Hotel and the local Newark area, please visit: Â https://www.newarkguide.co.uk
It subsequently moved to other rented accommodation on Beaumond Cross, but in 1933, when the Club had 100 members and was prospering, the freehold of 35 Barnbygate (Barnbygate House and its garden) was purchased.
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Thie building was constructed right at the end of the 18th Century, so it can claim to be Georgian. It was built as a private house, probably by and for John Beevor, a solicitor and partner in the firm of Tallents Beevor which was then on Cartergate. The next owner was Dr Jeremiah Bigsby, a physician who founded Newark Hospital, and he was followed in 1846 by George Harvey, a wine and spirit merchant who became mayor of Newark in 1873.
The next owner to make Barnbygate House his family home was Frederick Henry Appleby who bought the house in 1879. He was House Surgeon at Newark Hospital and also ran a private practice from Barnbygate House. He is probably most well-known for having been mayor of Newark three times: 1899, 1909 and 1910.
During the First World War he was medical officer to the training depots of the Royal Engineers and the Sherwood Foresters in Newark. When he died in 1918 Barnbygate House passed to his son, Major Lewis Appleby, the man who sold it to the Newark Town & District Club in 1933.
Up to the time of the sale the gardens of Barnbygate House included what the Club has today plus what is now the Sherwood Avenue Leisure Park, where the municipal open-air swimming pool used to be and where the skateboard and play park are now. The vendors of Barnbygate House donated the eastern end of their garden to the town of Newark and a boundary wall was built to separate the garden from the park.
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The Club’s new premises attracted new members. By 1946 there were 146 members, 248 in 1965 and an all-time high of 295 in 1972.
The business model of the Club was somewhat different from today. The premises were open six days a week. From 9am members could take coffee in the bar lounge and read the newspapers. The bar and the dining room opened at mid-day, lunches being served on working days. The bar closed at 10.30pm, though members were permitted to remain on the premises to play snooker, dominoes and crib. Playing cards for money has always been banned.
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Originally the Club employed a steward/bar manager who, ideally, would have been married and would live in the flat on the second floor. Whilst the steward ran the bar and the day-to-day operation of the Club, his wife would do the cooking and the cleaning.
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Snooker was always the mainstay of the Club. Originally there were two tables, one in the snooker room and one in the function room, but in the 1950s the snooker room was extended to accommodate a third table. Charges were made for playing snooker and were a major contribution to Club funds. There was a separate snooker committee which supervised table bookings and ran the handicap system. Exhibition matches were staged, tiered seating being installed around Table No 1 in the snooker room. Over the years the Club hosted Joe and Fred Davies, Cliff Thorburn, Dennis Taylor and Hurricane Higgins.
And TE Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – in his second life as Aircraftsman Shaw of RAF Cranwell would drive over to Newark on his Brough motorcycle to play snooker at the Town Club.
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Snooker table at the Newark Town & District club.
From a high point of maximum membership in the 1970s the Club’s fortunes declined. The concept on which the Club had been founded was that it would meet the needs of men who lived and/or worked within walking distance of Barnbygate House. But as personal wealth increased in the 1970s and 80s, people moved away from town centre to the outskirts of town or to the surrounding villages and used cars to get to get to and from work and play. And, of course, the drinking-and-driving laws did not help the Club’s profitability.
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During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s the Club went into financial decline, reaching a nadir in 1989 when, with 270 members, annual losses were running at £9,000 to £10,000. By 1994 the Club had reached its bank overdraft limit of £70,000 and was in crisis. A levy of £100 per member was introduced to reduce the overdraft, but this proved highly controversial and unpopular and led to half of the membership resigning.
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The turn-around in the Club’s fortunes began in 1998-99 when the Club was incorporated, becoming The Newark Town & District Club Limited. Every member was given an “A” share and became a part-owner of the business. Members could also purchase “B” shares and the share capital thus generated was used to pay down the Club’s bank borrowing.
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In 2020, during the Covid lock-down when the Club was closed, the Steward’s second-floor accommodation was converted into a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO): five self-contained living units with shared kitchen and dining facilities, all accessed by what had been the servants’ staircase. The work, both professional and self-help, cost the Club some £55,000, but the HMO attracts good-quality tenants and brings in a regular income which has given the Club a secure future.
This is where the Club is now. It has emerged from years of financial stringency and threats to its survival to a period of stability. The books are now balanced, debts are diminishing, and there is optimism about the future.
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Barnbygate House is a Grade II listed building, having been registered as long ago as 1950. It is not cheap nor easy to use and maintain, but there is a certain satisfaction to be obtained from keeping this historic structure alive and in use. The building and the Club are part of Newark’s history.
