Town in Mid Wales
Human settlement in Wales
Newtown
(
Welsh
:
Y Drenewydd
ⓘ
) is a town in
Powys
, Wales. It lies on the
River Severn
in the community of
Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn
, within the
historic boundaries
of
Montgomeryshire
. It was designated a
new town
in 1967 and saw population growth as firms settled, changing its
market town
character. Its 2001 population of 10,780 rose to 11,357 in the 2011 census, and rose again to 11,362 in the 2021 census.
[2]
[3]
Newtown was the birthplace of
Robert Owen
in 1771, whose house stood on the present site of the HSBC Bank.
[4]
The town has a theatre, Theatr Hafren,
[5]
and a public gallery, Oriel Davies, displaying contemporary arts and crafts.
[6]
It is the largest town in Powys and Mid Wales.
Etymology
[
edit
]
Both the English and Welsh names for the town mean "new town", the Welsh version with addition of the
definite article
.
[7]
[8]
History
[
edit
]
Foundation
[
edit
]
During the early medieval period a hamlet named Llanfair-yng-Nghedewain lay within the area that is now Newtown.
[9]
Its original Welsh name is derived from being situated near a
River Severn
ford below the Long Bridge and close to the church of
St Mary
in
Bettws Cedewain
.
[10]
The area came to the attention of the
English Crown
in the 13th century when
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
,
Prince of Wales
, created a new administrative centre (Welsh:
cantref
) at
Dolforwyn Castle
near
Abermule
following the
Treaty of Montgomery
between himself and
Henry III
. Llywelyn had the castle built to consolidate the land he had been given according to the treaty. However, it was not long after the death of Henry III in 1272 that tension arose with the English at their outpost of
Montgomery Castle
in the
Welsh Marches
. This led
Edward I
to seize and capture Dolforwyn Castle in 1277. He then granted Llywelyn's lands to the powerful
Marcher Lord
,
Roger Mortimer
, who transferred the administration of the
cantref
of Cedewain and the
commote
of Ceri from Dolforwyn Castle to a new settlement he planned to build further down the valley at Newtown. The town's market charter was granted in 1279.
[11]
[12]
With the
subjugation of the Welsh completed by 1282
, Newtown was developed as an
English plantation town
as part of Edward I's policy known as the
Ring of Iron
.
[12]
Industrialisation
[
edit
]
The town grew in the 18th and 19th centuries around the
textile
and
flannel
industry, stimulated by completion of the
Montgomeryshire Canal
. In 1838, the town saw Wales's first
Chartist
demonstration.
The
Cambrian Mills
, opened in 1856, were the first steam-driven mills in Newtown.
[13]
The mills stood beside the canal terminus on the east bank of the Severn.
[14]
They expanded to become the largest of the Welsh woollen mills.
[13]
However, by the end of the 19th century the Newtown mills were no longer competitive with those in the north of England.
[13]
There was a disastrous fire in 1910 and another in 1912, after which the Cambrian Mills were not rebuilt.
[14]
Thereafter Newtown was no longer an important centre of the woollen industry and many workers moved elsewhere.
[15]
Newtown hosted the
National Eisteddfod
in 1965. In 1967, the town was designated a
new town
. It saw a large population growth as firms and people settled, changing its
rural
market town
character.
Population
[
edit
]
The population of Newtown in 2001 was 10,780, and increased to 11,347 in 2011. The census of 2021 recorded 11,362 people.
[2]
Governance
[
edit
]
There are two tiers of local government covering Newtown, at
community
(town) and
county
level:
Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn
Town Council (often abbreviated to Newtown Town Council) and
Powys County Council
.
[16]
The two parishes of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn were governed by a single
local board
from 1866.
[17]
Such local boards became
urban district councils
under the
Local Government Act 1894
, and the Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District Council went on to govern the town from 1894 until 1974.
[18]
In 1974 all urban districts were abolished under the
Local Government Act 1972
, with most of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District Council's functions passing to
Montgomeryshire District Council
. At the same time a community was established covering the area of the former urban district, with its council taking the name Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council.
[19]
Further local government reorganisation took place across Wales in 1996, when Montgomeryshire District Council was abolished and its functions passed to Powys County Council.
[20]
The Town Council has 16 elected members serving five-year terms, and employs a staff of about ten.
[21]
It deals mainly with green spaces and public facilities, and as a representative voice for Newtown. The Council Chair or Mayor, elected by the councillors, has been Councillor John Byrne since May 2022.
The community is represented on
Powys County Council
by five county councillors, each representing a ward:
Newtown Central
, Newtown East,
Newtown Llanllwchaiarn West
, Newtown Llanllwchaiarn West and Newtown South.
[19]
Geography
[
edit
]
Newtown lies about 8 miles (13 km) from the
Wales-England border
, in the narrow valley of the River Severn, which restricts development north and south of the town. It is surrounded by small villages, often referred to collectively as the Newtown area. The Newtown
post town
area, including the villages, has a population approaching 16,000.
[
citation needed
]
The villages include
Aberhafesp
,
Adfa
,
Bettws Cedewain
,
Bwlch-y-ffridd
,
Cefn-gwyn
,
Dolfor
,
Glanmule
,
Kerry
,
Llanllwchaiarn
,
Llanwyddelan
,
Mochdre
,
New Mills
,
Pentre
,
Rhydlydan
,
Sarn
and
Tregynon
.
[22]
Buildings and monuments
[
edit
]
Built by
Pryce Pryce-Jones
, the Pryce Jones Royal Welsh Warehouse remains the tallest building in Newtown. The two towering structures housed the world's first
mail order
service depot.
[23]
Bear Lanes, the town's main shopping centre, has a Tudor-style entrance. The building was once a hotel,
The Bear
, which contributes to the centre's appearance today.
The Robert Owen Museum is on the ground floor of the council offices in Brisco House, Broad Street.
[24]
A statue of
Robert Owen
was erected in 1956 in a park off Shortbridge Street and Gas Street. A replica of this was later erected in
Manchester
.
[25]
The Free Library building designed by the architect
Frank Shayler
of
Shrewsbury
was built in 1902. The Baptist Chapel, dating from 1881, is a fine example of
nonconformist
architecture from that period. The
Back Lane drill hall
was completed in 1897.
[26]
Theatres, museums and galleries
[
edit
]
- Theatr Hafren ? a 555-seat venue
[5]
- Powys Theatre ? home of the Newtown Amateur Dramatic Society
[27]
- Robert Owen
Museum
- Textile Museum
[28]
- W H Smith
Museum (above the shop)
[29]
- Oriel Davies ? largest visual arts venue in the region
[6]
Transport
[
edit
]
Newtown's station
is on the
Cambrian Line
served by
Transport for Wales
. Trains run about once in two hours.
Local bus services in and around the town are operated by local, privately owned companies:
Tanat Valley Coaches
,
Minsterley Motors
, and Owen's Travelmaster. Newtown has one
National Express
bus per day in each direction, to Aberystwyth and to London. Newtown has one
TrawsCymru
route to
Cardiff
and a TrawsCymru Connect to
Machynlleth
and to
Wrexham
. Two major roads meet at Newtown: the
A483
from
Swansea
to
Chester
and the
A489
from
Machynlleth
to
Craven Arms
. The bypass to the south of Newtown opened on 14 February 2019, having been planned since 1949.
[30]
The
Montgomery Canal
terminated in Newtown. After its closure in 1944, the Newtown section was sold for building land, but it gave its name to Canal Road and Lower Canal Road.
International relations
[
edit
]
Twin towns - sister cities
[
edit
]
Notable people
[
edit
]
- Robert Owen
(1771?1858), social reformer and a founder of
Utopian socialism
and the
Co-operative Movement
[31]
- John Bentley
(1822?1894), member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly
- James Trow
(1826?1892), an Ontario businessman and politician
- Pryce Pryce-Jones
(1834?1920), mail-order entrepreneur born at
Llanllwchaiarn
, nearby
- Air Commodore Ernest Norton
, (1893?1966), RAF Officer and flying ace in WW1
- Geraint Goodwin
(1903?1941), novelist and short story writer in English, born in
Llanllwchaiarn
, near Newtown
Sport
[
edit
]
- George Latham
(1881?1939), international footballer
- Harry Beadles
(1897?1958), Welsh international footballer, born in
Llanllwchaiarn
, near Newtown
- James Crisp
(1927?2005), cricketer
- Barry Hoban
(born 1940), professional cyclist with several stage wins in the
Tour de France
- Philip Parkin
(born 1961), professional golfer and commentator
- Phil Mills
(born 1963),
World Rally
Championship winning co-driver
- Edgar Pugh Williams
(1925?2010), Welsh international footballer, captain of
Newtown AFC
when they won the Welsh Amateur cup
FAW Trophy
in 1955, captain of Montgomeryshire and Newtown cricket clubs and local teacher for 30 years
Sports
[
edit
]
Newtown A.F.C.
is Newtown's
association football
club, and a founding member of the
Welsh Premier League
in 1992. The club was founded in 1875 as Newtown White Stars and won the
Welsh FA Cup
in 1879 and 1895.
[32]
It also entered the qualifying stages of the
UEFA Cup
on three occasions. The club plays at
Latham Park
. This has a capacity of 5,000 (1,750 seated) and a full UEFA licence, allowing under-21 international games and European games to be played. In 2007, another 250-seat stand was built next to the media gantry. Further developments are planned.
[33]
Newtown RFC
is the town's
rugby union
club, established in 1925. It currently fields first, second, third, youth and junior teams.
[34]
Newtown has facilities for lawn bowls,
[35]
cricket,
[36]
golf,
[37]
/Club Site and for tennis.
[38]
A
basketball club
, the Newtown Titans was set up in 2005, before being reconstituted as Mid-Wales Basketball Club in 2009.
[39]
Education
[
edit
]
The Newtown schools are Ysgol Cedewain (special needs), Ladywell Green (ages 4?7), Hafren Junior (7?11), Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd (4?11), St Mary's (4?11), Penygloddfa (4?11), Maesyrhandir (4-11), Treowen (4?11), and Newtown High School and Sixth Form (11?18). The last recently received an outstanding
Estyn
inspection report in October 2015, praising many features, including teacher/sixth-form pupil relations and school support for a wide range of post-16 vocational and academic subjects. As of 2011, it was proposed that
Newtown High School
, along with several other schools in Powys, should merge with another county high school, as part of Powys County Council's secondary school and post-16 modernisation programme.
[40]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Newtown"
.
- ^
a
b
City Population site. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^
UK Census
(2011).
"Local Area Report ? Newtown BUA (W37000100)"
.
Nomis
.
Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
17 November
2021
.
- ^
Biography
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
a
b
Theatre site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
a
b
Gallery site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Mills, A. D. (2003).
A Dictionary of British Place-Names
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780198527589
.
- ^
"Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru"
.
- ^
"Recorded name: Newtown (Llanfair-yn-Nghedewain),Newtown"
.
historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk
. Retrieved
7 September
2023
.
- ^
Jones, D (November 2007). "Old town, Newtown".
About Wales
. Civic Trust for Wales.
- ^
"Newtown"
.
www.britannica.com
. Retrieved
7 September
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Newtown"
.
britainexpress.com
. Retrieved
7 September
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Newtown Local History Group (28 February 2014),
Newtown Through Time
, Amberley Publishing Limited, p. 144,
ISBN
978-1-4456-1701-5
, retrieved
31 March
2016
- ^
a
b
Waiters, Mark (March 2003),
An historical and archaeological study of the industrial heritage of Newtown, Powys, Mid Wales
, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, Curatorial Section, p. 16
, retrieved
31 March
2016
- ^
Cowey, Carolyn (2016),
Pryce-Jones: Pioneer of the Mail Order Industry
,
BBC
, retrieved
31 March
2016
- ^
"Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council"
. Retrieved
30 September
2022
.
Newtown Town Council
- ^
"No. 23137"
.
The London Gazette
. 13 July 1866. p. 3986.
- ^
"Newtown and Llanllwchaearn Urban District"
.
A Vision of Britain through Time
. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth
. Retrieved
30 September
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Election Maps"
.
Ordnance Survey
. Retrieved
27 August
2018
.
- ^
"Local Government (Wales) Act 1994"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, 1994 c. 19
, retrieved
30 September
2022
- ^
Town Council information
- ^
SY16 postcode information
- ^
"Pryce Jones and the Royal Welsh Warehouse"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 November 2013
. Retrieved
11 November
2013
.
- ^
Penrose, Naomi (8 March 2017).
"Plans to transform Newtown Council HQ"
.
Shropshire Star
. Retrieved
18 September
2018
.
- ^
Official site
[1]
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
"Newtown"
. The Drill Hall Project
. Retrieved
21 August
2017
.
- ^
Society site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Museum site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Lonely Planet
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
"Town's bypass opens after 70-year wait"
.
BBC News
. 14 February 2019
. Retrieved
28 May
2020
.
- ^
"Owen, Robert"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 395.
- ^
Wales ? List of Cup Finals
- ^
Official site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Club site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Club site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Club site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^
Club site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Basketball site
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^
Powys CC plans
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
External links
[
edit
]
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Newtown
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