Wetherspoons wastes little time in removing its footprint from Newark as the process of ripping out the Sir John Arderne is well underway

Wetherspoons has wasted little time in removing its footprint from Newark.

The chain may have only called last orders for the final time on Sunday night at the Sir John Arderne in the Market Place, but the ripping out as already begun.

The metal beer kegs were piled up outside this morning, under guard, awaiting collection, and the process of dismantling the interior was well underway.

The Sir John Arderne letting had also been removed from the facade of the building, though the discolouration that had formed behind the gold lettering made the name still readable.

The fixtures and furnishings were visible resting in heaps through the windows.

Sofas and chairs, looking more dilapidated than they had in situ, basked in the sunshine in a heap of dejection.

The outside tables and chairs that made such a feature of the pub, offering alfresco eating and drinking, as well as the smoking area, were no more.

Wetherspoons announced the closure of the Sir John Arderne in March due to commercial reasons and the building is to be put up for sale.is to close its doors this month and the building is for sale.

The nearest Wetherspoons is now The Butter Cross at Bingham.

Who was Sir John Arderne, well the story of the man and how he came to have a pub named after him in Newark was told in a frame inside the boozer.

It read: “This Wetherspoon pub bears the name of the ‘first true English surgeon’, who lived in Newark during 1349–70.

“His work during that period has since earned him the accolade – the ‘first true English surgeon’.

“It seems that he was particularly adept at treating medieval knights with saddle sores, often the result of long hours spent weighed down by heavy armour, on a horse. By the end of his life, Arderne had achieved the status of Master Surgeon.

“During the Middle Ages, medical practice was riddled with ignorance and superstition, although monks were often skilled in the use of traditional remedies.

“Doctors, however, were less likely to claim that illness was a punishment from God, but it would have been a miracle if some of their treatments had worked.

“One honourable exception was Sir John Arderne, who lived in Newark during the mid-1300s. Distinguished by his skill and humanity, he has been dubbed the ‘first English surgeon’.

“Arderne specialised in treating haemorrhoids and ulcers. The former complaint was common amongst medieval knights, who spent long periods on horseback, in cold heavy armour.

“Coarse woollen underwear did not improve matters.

“Surgeon to the Earl of Derby, Arderne is said to have been with him at the Battle of Crecy, in 1346.

“On his return to England, Arderne successfully treated an eminent patient, Sir Adam Everingham, who had despaired of being cured.

“This established Arderne’s reputation, and further successes led to his appointment as Master Surgeon. Several manuscripts recording his treatments have survived.”