Newport, Shropshire

This article is about Newport in Shropshire. For other uses, see Newport (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 52°46′09″N 2°22′43″W / 52.7691°N 2.3787°W / 52.7691; -2.3787

Newport
Newport from cheney hill.jpg Newport from Cheney Hill.
Newport Coat of Arms
Newport  Newport shown within Shropshire
Population	10,814 (2000)
OS grid reference	SJ745191
- Cardiff	143 mi (230 km) SSW[1]
- London	148 mi (238 km) SE[2]
Parish	Newport
Unitary authority	Telford and Wrekin
Ceremonial county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TELFORD
Postcode district	TF10
Dialling code	01952
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	The Wrekin
Website	newportsaloptowncouncil.co.uk
List of places: UK • England • Shropshire

Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Telford and some 12 miles (19 km) west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's parish, making it the second largest town in Telford and Wrekin and the fifth in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, with a 2008 estimate puts it between 12,444.^[3] and 15,632.^[4]

Newport is a Britain in Bloom finalist and has been awarded the silver gilt award from the Heart of England regional, making Newport the first town in the country to win six gold awards in a row,^[5] the 2010 competition brought the towns seventh consecutive gold medal, receiving more points of any town in the United Kingdom.^[6]

Naming

The Normans planned a New Town called Novo Burgo between the older settlements of Edgmond and Plesc which is located near to where the Old Quarry and Mere Park garden centre. The first market charter was granted by Henry I and over time the name changed from Nova Burgo to Newborough and finally to Newport.

The Deans' houses and front of Adams Grammar school

Location

The site was chosen partly because of its location near the Via Devana (Roman Road that ran from Colchester to Chester) and partly due to the amount of fisheries (which are mentioned in the Domesday Survey) and to the north of the town is the River Meese which flows out of Aqualate Mere.

Newport lies on the eastern border of the Welsh Marches and west of the Aqualate Mere, the largest natural lake in the English Midlands^[7] 1.5 km long and 5 km wide, this is sited in the grounds of the deer park which houses Aqualate Hall. Newport is sited on a sandstone ridge. The area around it at the end of the last Ice Age was part of Lake Lapworth. This was formed from melting glaciers and covered a vast area of North Shropshire. Early man fished here and two log boats were uncovered a mile from Newport. One has been preserved and is now at Harper Adams University College at Edgmond.

The villages of Church Aston, Chetwynd and Longford are adjoined to the south of Newport, though they remain in separate parishes. The village of Edgmond is located just to the west, separated by Cheney Hill, Chetwynd Park and the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal.

Like many rural market towns, Newport was influenced by industry; it served the needs of the mining area to the east of Shropshire and was also affected by mass produced industrial goods that replaced traditional crafts.

Newport from church tower

History

See also: History of Shropshire

Newport is located in the historic kingdom of Mercia, near where the Wreocensæte capital the Wrekin was situated and there has been activity in the area, even before the creation of the town, once established Newport became a market town in the centre of the rural farming area between Stafford, Shrewsbury and from the 1960s the new town of Telford Situated 10 miles north-Eastwards.

Newport High Street, Stafford Street roundabout.

Saxon Times

In Saxon times there were two settlements in the location of the modern day town, the first Eastun, has been identified as Church Aston and the second, Plesc, lies south of the town near to location of the Mere-park Garden centre. In 963AD Plesc was described as having a High street, a stone quarry and a religious community. The name Plesc means fortified place or one with a palisade, thus suggesting that it was of some importance in the local area, few signs of the Saxon settlement exist today, apart from the Quarry which has now been built around.

Newport was omitted from the Domesday Book, but this is not uncommon, other towns omitted include London, Tamworth, Oswestry and Ludlow, all boroughs since Saxon times.

Norman Times

At the time of the Norman Conquest, The Land where Newport sits then formed part of the manor of Edgmond, which William I gave as a gift along with the county of Shropshire to Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury. Henry I founded the borough, first called Newborough, after the manor had come into his hands from Robert de Belesme.

The Normans planned the new town around the older one during the reign of Henry I. The wide main street was designed for its market and the narrow burgage plots running at right angles to it are typical of Norman architecture and planning, though today only Guildhall and Smallwood Lodge are clear signs of Norman buildings, due to the 1665 fire which detroyed most of the Highsteet.

Medieval Newport flourished with trade in leather, wool and fish. Novoportans possessed the right to provide fish for the Royal table. The many half-timbered buildings surviving from the Late Medieval and Tudor periods confirm Newport's success, leading to the first market charter which was granted by Henry I.

The town is mentioned once by Leland in a list of castles. Though there are now no visible remains of the castle. The most probable location for this would be the traditional site of a manor house at Upper Bar where there is a fragment of a square, broad moat, or on the higher ground along the Forton road where the Castle House school stands, As regards the moat, nearly square, forming by measurement an area of 60 sq yds., two sides have been filled with rubbish. Nothing is known about the occupants of the moated site. It could have pre dated the town or, perhaps more likely, been the manor house of the Audleys, who were granted the manor in 1227. In 1421 the manor house was ruinous.

One of the main reasons for Newport's early wealth was the surrounding fisheries and the chief service of the burgesses being that of taking fish to the Royal court wherever it might be. This custom was continued after Henry III had granted the borough with the manor of Edgmond, to Henry de Audley, but in the middle of the 13th century James, son of Henry de Audley, granted that the burgesses need not take the fish anywhere except within the county of Shropshire.

High Street Lower Bar.

The burgesses received certain privileges from Henry I, since Henry II in an undated charter granted them all the liberties, rights and customs which they had in the time of Henry I. Including a gild merchant, which is mentioned in the Quo Warranto Rolls as one of the privileges claimed by the burgesses. Confirmation charters were granted by Edward I in 1287 and Edward II in 1311, while the town was incorporated in 1551 by Edward VI, whose charter was confirmed by James I in 1604. The governing body consisted of a Lord High Steward, deputy steward, two water-bailiffs and 28 burgesses, but the corporation was abolished by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1883, and a Local Board was formed, which, under the Local Government Act 1894, gave place to an urban district council.

Regency Period

In 1665 many buildings were damaged in the Great Fire of Newport and only a few of the medieval structures remain. However, there remain many fine Regency and Georgian frontages, built on the site of the former Norman plots. This allows the main streets of Newport to be wider and less cluttered than those of the other towns of its age.

Newport High Street

Edwardian Period

By the 19th century, Newport was surrounded by large estates that came right to the back door of the town, determining size and development. The vivary and open fields at Norbroom had gone making the town dependent on its rural hinterland. The few fields that remained were for hay or cattle, forming a small green belt. These estates exerted a powerful influence on the town, something obvious in the deference shown and respect paid to these landed families until at least the First World War.

Beginning in the south west of the town was the largest estate, the Lilleshall estate of the Duke of Sutherland. This dates from the dissolution of the monasteries, the lands of Lilleshall Abbey being purchased in 1539 by James Leverton of Wolverhampton.

The next estate is that of in the south-east is Woodcote Hall, a smaller one belonging to the Cotes family.

Chetwynd Aston

Lilleshall Hall

Longford

Newport

Longford Hall

Vauxhall

Shrewsbury and Newport Canal

Church Aston

Chetwynd Park

Cheney Hill

Edgmond

Aqualate Hall

Aqualate Golf club

Harper Adams University

A518 road

Mere Park center

A41 road

Aqualate Mere

Chetwynd Park estate

Meretown

A519 road

Forton

Woodcote Hall

Chetwynd, Shropshire

A518 road

On the west between Lilley and the town was the Longford Estate of the Tollbooths, Earl of Shrewsbury, sold in 1789 to Ralf Lemke of Wellington who had made his fortune in the East India Company.

North of the town is the Chetwynd Park estate of the Pigots bought in 1803 by Thomas Borrow of North Derbyshire who changed his name to Bought.

The Aqualate Estate to the east in lies mostly in Staffordshire.

20th century

The town came close to being destroyed for a second time when on Christmas Eve 1944 one of Hitler's V-2 bombs narrowly missed the town with the bomb landing in a nearby field. Even so, nearby buildings suffered extensive damage. This bomb is now on display at DCAE Cosford Royal Air Force Museum.

Modern Day Newport

From the 1960s very little in the way of redevelopment happened in the town, with attention going to surrounding towns including Wellington and Oakengates, which now make up the new town of Telford, but in 2007 the Telford and Wrekin council borough towns incentive was brought about and the town received major investments over the following years, including a major redevelopment of the canal and surrounding area, the lower bar of the High Street area, planned housing, bars and restaurants set to line the canal. New sporting facilities, including a climbing wall in the Springfield's area of the town. The High Street and St Mary's Street area were seeing new stores coming into the town to fill empty lots and some of the older ones being developed.

In the spring of 2010 the first stage of the towns was a £1.5m regeneration began with the redevelopment of Victoria Park to the rear of The Royal Victoria Hotel, this cost between £250,000 and £300,000. The park had a new seating and new play area for along the canal front and a new car park closer to the town centre with plans to build a museum/information centre on the old car park.^[8]

The next stage of the regeneration which was mainly focused on the High street area of the town and Central square, involved re-paving the high-street pavements and changing the design of the high-street around the Puleston Cross removing the cobblestones and replacing them with paving and the traced outline of the 1850s market hall^[9][10]

On Stafford Street next to the car park, some derelict buildings where demolished to make way for a care home, which made the entrance to the high-street area more inviting and on the entrance to the town by Mere park a care village it being built on empty fields that lead onto Stafford street, across from the £5m Premier Inn and Beefeater (restaurant) "Three Fish"^[11] and were completed in 2010 on the Newport By-pass,^[12] near to where on derelict land there are plans to build an Aldi supermarket.^[13]

In July 2011, Telford & Wrekin Council unveiled massive plans for green land off the A518 bypass. The proposals included hundreds of new homes, a new supermarket, a business park and improvements to Burton Borough School.^[14]

House prices in the town are the highest in the TF post code area, (including the towns of Telford and Market Drayton) and amongst the highest in the county,^[15] due to high desirability because of the good local education establishments and easy commuting links to Birmingham, Telford, Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford.

The town is currently attempting to about acquiring Transition Towns and Fairtrade Town statuses .^[16]

Facilities and places of interest

The High Street

The main street in Newport follows the Norman design. This resulted in the distinctive long wide High Street, split into three parts, upper bar, lower bar and St Mary's street, with the centre of the high-street being the Puleston Cross and the 19th century Newport Market Hall completed in March 1860 and was built with an Italianate frontage, replacing an earlier building that was demolished due to fire.

Burgage plots ran along either side and the church rising up in the middle, with the High Street with St Mary's Street splitting off and re-joining the high street around the island the St Nicolas church, Newport and Butter cross, which is an ancient market cross.

High street and St Mary's street junction and St Nicolas Island

After the fire of Newport in 1666 the old Norman buildings were replaced with grander Georgian architecture, which hid the work yards behind; the shops are still there but the work yards have now been developed into housing or the Boughy gardens tennis courts, next to the literary institute. Despite being close to larger retail centres such as Telford, Shrewsbury and Stafford, Newport has retained a large number of shops that line the High Street, Stafford Street and St Mary's Street, with St Mary's Street keeping its charm by still using Cobblestones and the majority of shops being small boutiques. St Mary's is also the site of various markets and fairs such as the Olde Time Market, with over 50 stalls, and various farmers markets; these tie in with Newport's indoor market. The town also has well known companies such as Subway, The Co-operative Food, Greggs, Coral, Focus Do It All two Euronics centres and Mackay's, Seconds Ahead, Bet365, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Boots, Halifax (United Kingdom bank), National Westminster Bank. There is a Waitrose superstore with a coffee shop and home delivery service on the edge of the town centre adjoining the Stafford Street car park. The towns Woolworths store was developed into a B&M Bargains^[17] and a Jaspers bakers store opened in an empty store nearby.

Mere Park Garden Centre

On the Newport by-pass near to the Aqualate Mere the A518 road an out-of-town shopping centre has grown up around the Mere Park Garden centre. The building work is still being extended and hotels and small shops being built; this ties in with the various other industrial estates that lie around the Newport by-pass and Springfield estate, this would also be the site of the new train station if Stafford Council and Telford and Wrekin councils agree terms to connecting train service between the Telford, Newport and Stafford and the where the park and ride service is set to go from in a triangle of the three main shopping centres of the town. Mere park, Audley avenue business park and the High street.

Other areas

The oldest man-made landmark in the town in the Puleston Cross which is a butter cross positioned near to the Church of St Nicholas. this is an early 14th century cross denoting a market place and named after Sir John Puleston who lost his life during the reign of King Edward 1st in campaign against Wales.

Towards the top end of the town is the Combat stress centre, built in 1908 as the infirmary for the Newport Workhouse, it was subsequently developed as accommodation for elderly ladies until its closure in 1995. The home was purchased in 1996 and totally refurbished to provide 31 bedrooms, two of which can provide carer facilities. Set in three acres on the edge of Newport, it has easy access to all local facilities.

The town sits near the Aqualate Mere, which is the largest natural lake in the English Midlands.

• 

  St. Nicholas church & Newport war memorial

• 

  Aqualate lodge to Aqualate Hall

• 

  Newport Junior school Built 1898

Religious sites

St Nicholas's Church

Inside SS Peter and Paul Church designed by Angustus Pugin.

The first recorded religious community is 963 AD where a Saxon script recorded a religious community. This was the church of St Mary Magdalene, built in the time of Archbishop Dunstan.

Newport lies in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury and the Diocese of Lichfield and as a Norman planned new town, religion played a strong part in the design of the town, with the centre of the town being dominated by the church of St Nicholas Church, originally built in the reign of Henry I and restored in 1886 and 1890.

The second church of the town is the St Peter and Paul Catholic church in Newport Salters Lane, Built 1857 and is the oldest Catholic church in Shropshire and was designed by Angustus Pugin.

Lilleshall Abbey ruins are to be found four miles from the town centre. They include a Norman west door and part of the front, considerable remains of the church besides, and traces of domestic buildings. The abbey was founded in 1145, under charter from King Stephen, by Richard de Baumes or Belmeis, dean of St Alkmund, Shrewsbury, for Augustinian canons, who were brought from Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire.

A smaller church for the Baptist community sits at the back of The Royal Victoria Hotel in water lane, called Newport Baptist church, which was built in the 1960s.

The town has had a wide range of religious sites over time and this is shown in the number of churches in the town, the Independent Chapel, Beaumaris Lane, Newport, built 1803 on the site of a church dating from 1765, converted into cottages in 1832 when they finished work on the new church, the Newport Independent (Congregational) Chapel, Wellington Road, built in 1831, subsequently becoming part of the United Reformed Church. It merged with the Methodist Chapel in Avenue Road in 2001 to become Trinity Church, a joint Methodist/United Reformed Church. It has just finished a major redevelopment of the main building and of the church hall which used to be part of the British School.

Due to the growth and decline of religions over time some previous churches have since been used for other uses or been demolished all together, most of these are in the Upper bar area of the town, around the Granville road and Wellington road area.

Near to the Trinity church is the Newport Primitive Methodist Chapel, built 1877, closed 1920 which replaced the one built in Stafford Road, built 1830, demolished 1877. the latest one is now a shop and bar.

Two more former churches have been converted into shops is the Newport Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Upper Bar, Built 1829, which was turned into a shop and theatre 1876 and the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Avenue Road which was Built in 1876 and closed in 2001 on merging with the Wellington Road URC Chapel to become a gym but has since become a house.

Independent Chapel, Beaumaris Lane

• Newport General Cemetery was opened for burials on 2 March 1859 with its first interment taking place on 5 March 1859 when it is noted that some 1,000 people witnessed the burial. The cemetery contains a chapel built at the same time and is bounded at the public road side by fine wrought iron railings and gates. The cemetery was originally laid out with four oval lawns around a cross-shaped set of roads with the chapel centrally placed.

Economy

As the second town of Telford and Wrekin, Newport serves as a main economic part of the Borough, Telford and Wrekin council plan to make Newport into one of the most desirable towns in the country,^[18]

Newport is the main hub for the farming community along the Shropshire/Staffordshire border and as a mini business centre, with the head offices of Smith Bellerby Limited, The Hartington Group, Sambrook Research International, ReadWell Press, Classic furniture, Edgmond Foods, and The Football Association, Medical and Exercise Science Department, based at Lilleshall Hall on the outskirts of the town.

Newport in 2009 was the third best place in the county for house sales, after Much Wenlock and the new housing estate at Lawley in Telford.,^[19] but in 2010 it had become the joint best selling area in the county.^[20]

A large section of Newport's economy is based around education, with a private prep school, two public schools and a large comprehensive drawing students from all over the county and a university on the edge of the town along with a regional food academy.

Retail plays a major part of the economy of the town, with the majority of shops being located in and around the High street, with larger out of town stores located on the Audley Avenue and Springfield trading estates in to the south of the town and to the east of the town the Mere park complex with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Maidenhead Aquatics being the newest stores to come to the town.

The Wrekin's main economic driver is the town Newport. Newport is the hub for the farming community but it also hosts large business consultancies like the Smith Bellerby Ltd and Sambrook Research International, The Hartington Group, a solution provider for drink and food companies, and ReadWell Press, a commercial print specialist.^[21]

Culture

Events and venues

The Royal Victoria Hotel

Newport has a wide range of different activities throughout the year and is fast becoming a Cultural centre in the area, due to the large amount of venues and areas that can support activities, this is also helped by the beauty of the town and surrounding Shropshire country side.

The most used Venues in the town are scattered mainly along the High street, starting in the lower bar by the Shrewsbury Canal is the Newport Cosy Hall which is used for the Newport music festival^[22] along with The Royal Victoria Hotel in St Mary's Street which was named after Princess Victoria in 1832 after she stayed at the hotel.

The Guildhall is a medieval timber-framed building that is the home to Newport Town Council and is used for official purposes as well as smaller events. Newport Market Hall built in 1860 and is considered one of the towns grandest buildings and is the location of the towns dance hall, though not used in recent times.

Newport has a lively night life for a town of its size, mainly due to the students from the Harper Adams University College along with other students from Newport. The night-life is at its most lively during the weekends, as well as Monday and Wednesday nights during 'term time'. Royal Naval Club is the venue that hosts live music from local and national bands. There is also a wide range of small pubs and wine bars spread up and down the main High Street of Newport, the most popular with locals being The Barley Mow, The Railway Tavern and The Pheasant, while Ozzys Wine bar in St Mary's Street was (formerly owned by rock star Ozzy Osbourne) Harper Bar, Beau bar and Adams House are popular amongst the sizeable student population. the town centre also boasts a nightclub, Central Square, which was formerly called The Vine Vaults.

Public Houses

Wine Bar	Ozzys Wine bar - (formerly owned by Ozzy Osbourne)
Student Bar	Harper Adams Student union
High street (Upper bar)	The Railway Tavern  · The Pheasant  · The Shakespeare Inn
High street (Lower bar)	The Kings Head  · The Bridge  · The Swan
Hotels	The Royal Victoria Hotel  · Adams House Hotel  · The Newport Arms Hotel
Off the high street	The Weatsheaf  · The New Inn  · The Last Inn
Edge of town	The Lion  · The Lamb  · Norwood House  · The Fox  · The Swan at Forton  · The Honeysuckle
Nightclubs	Central Square  · The Barley
Members clubs	Newport Bowling club  · British Legion  · The Audco  · Newport Rugby Club  · Newport Cricket Club  · Newport Naval Club

Town events

Newport Nocturn Bike race 2006

The town hosts many events throughout the year, but six main events bring people to Newport, which are Newport Show is hosted yearly in Chetwynd Park and is situated in the show-ground between Edgmond and Newport.Newport show has become one of the main shows in the count and West Midlands region due to its position near the town and size of the show ground, which also hosts Shropshire Game Fair and British Falconry and raptor fair.

In the centre of town itself the main events are the Newport carnival, which has been staged in Newport for over 150 years and the Newport old time market which happen yearly usually on either side of Newport show in July, towards the end of the summer the newest event is the Newport Music festival which is hosted by various venues in the town.

By far the biggest event in the town is the biennial Newport Nocturne Bike Race, which brings the biggest crowds to Newport and is well covered by national press and media outlets.

Also to note is 'The Pheztival' which is organised by local band Airbag (www.airbag-music.co.uk) on the August bank holiday weekend. The event attracts acts from around the country to raise money for MacMillan Cancer. Look up 'The Pheztival' on youtube to see some great video of the event. 2011 saw a whoping £1500 raised.

Restaurants and cafés

Newport has a wide range of restaurants, mostly on the High Street and branch streets. These range from family run cafés to international companies.

Pub food	The Barley  · The Swan at Forton  · The Fox  · The Lion  · The Lamb  · The Last Inn
Tea Rooms	The Lutine Bell  · Smallwood lodge  · Waitrose
Take Away	Jones chip shop  · Zach's Plaice  · Spice Island  · The Wan loi Chinese  · China Palace  · Newport Kebab House  · Star Pizza & Kebab  · Raja's  · Combinations
Restaurants	The Royal Victoria Hotel  · Mischa's Restaurant & Brasserie  · Norwood House  · Shimla Licensed Tandoori  · Taste Of Paradise  · The Munchbox  · The Three fishes  · Subway  · Shanghai City  · Christy’s Ristorante Italiano

St. Mary's

• The Royal Victoria Hotel - a historical building dating back to 1830, first opened by the Princess Victoria and now operating as a hotel, bar and restaurant, now running rock and indie nights.
• Smallwood Lodge- A half timbered chocolate box building where Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife once stayed
• The Lutine Bell - a popular and long standing restaurant down an alley off the high street
• The town has two cheeses named after it: Newport and Newport 1665, both are made in the town along with Marches Blue and Wrekin White

Media

The Newport Advertiser, is the towns weekly newspaper, that's been in publication since 1854, located on St Mary's Street, the town is also covered by the county wide Shropshire Star and The Shropshire Magazine. All published by Shropshire Newspapers Ltd.

Nova News, first published in 1994, is a free bimonthly magazine distributed in and around the Newport area.

The town is covered by The Severn (formally Telford FM), BBC Radio Shropshire and Beacon, but there are plans for a station covering the town called TF10 Radio (named after the towns postcode), not only covering Newport but also it would have a radius of 10 miles to include surrounding villages such as Tibberton, Edgmond and Church Aston.^[23]

In the media

Christmas Guisers' Play from Newport, Shropshire [1883] is about the town

Newport was the first town in Shropshire to be on Dickinson's Real Deal

A television documentary called The Spy Who Stole My Life showed the town as the backdrop of the Robert Hendy-Freegard story, who conned students from the town was shown by Channel Five on 7 September 2005. In Australia, this was called The spy Who Conned Me

The Army Cadet Force has a detachment, which represented the town and United Kingdom at a ceremony where they paraded under the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium in 2005.

Charles Dickens stayed in Newport and modelled Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1861) on Elizabeth Parker, a recluse from the town.

At Harper Adams University College just outside Newport in Edgmond, on 10 January 1982 the English lowest temperature weather record was broken (and is kept to this day): -26.1 °C.

The town has a local ghost called Madam Pigott which is well reported in local and national ghost publications

Education

Newport Junior school

Newport is considered by many to have one of the best educational systems in Shropshire, due to the full range of educational establishments from Primary to University and the selective schools in the town were both in the top 70 selective schools in the country and the top two schools in the county and for a town with a population under 15,000, Newport Girls High School was 37th and Adams' Grammar School was 43rd and Harper Adams University College is located in the nearby village of Edgmond and Keele University operate teaching rooms in the new medical buildings in the main doctor's surgery in the town for student doctors to learn in the public, for students between secondary and university education the closest colleges for the town are Telford College of Arts and Technology & Stafford College with Buses running from the town to both collages and to Stafford, Wolverhampton and Keele Universities due to the proximity of the town to all three, just outside the town is Edgmond Hall, run by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council for outdoor activities, is in the nearby village of Edgmond.

Schools in Newport, Shropshire

Primary	Church Aston Infant School · Moorfield Primary School · St Peter & St Paul RC Primary School · Newport Infant School
Secondary	Newport Junior School  · Moorfield junior School
Comprehensive	Burton Borough School
Sixth form colleges	Newport Girls High School
Grammar	Adams' Grammar School
Independent (preparatory)	Castle house school
Independent (Private)	Edgmond Hall, Run by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Universities	Harper Adams University College  · Keele University (Medical education centre due 2010)

Transport

The town has been a well used crossing point even before the creation of the settlement and sits on the historical crossing point the Via Devana.

The town became prominent at a coaching town on the route between London, North Wales and Ireland as well the historic junction on the road from London to Chester and the East Midlands, this meant that the town grew around the different roads that cross the town, with the Church of St Nicolas and Central square nightclub forming a large fork in the centre of the town, with the high street running one side and St Mary's street running along the other, coming together in front of the nightclub at the junction to A518 which runs between the town on an east-west route from Stafford to Telford and coming together By the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust on the A519 road also runs through the town, between Shrewsbury and Eccleshall

Newport Canal.

Before the road network the canal was the main link into the town but is not currently connected to the National network, but there are current plans to restore it to a fully working canal by the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust. linking to the canal network at Norbury Junction just passed the A41 which borders the town on a north-south by-pass which opened in early 1985, to ease the congestion that plagued the High street.

The town sits 8.8 miles (14.2 km) from the M54 and 11.1 miles (17.9 km) from the M6 Motorways.

Buses

The town is served by buses to and from Stafford, Telford. Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent as well as a circular line that links the outlying villages and the shopping areas.

In 2009 a Park and ride was introduced between the High Street and Mere Park centre. It is hoped that this will bring customers to each of the shopping areas and it is stated that if the town gets a new train station, the park and ride would run to the station too.^[24]

Rail

The former Stafford to Shrewsbury Line once ran through the town, but due to cuts Newport (Salop) railway station was closed in September 1964 and has now been dismantled. The line has been restored to Donnington, and it is possible that the next phase could be to reconnect the town to the railway network. This has been given a boost by the town council, who are currently in talks with Stafford borough council to discuss the link to Stafford. The line is in the top 36 'Lines that should reopen' listing published by the Campaign for Better Transport and with the Telford International Freight Park in Donnington, Telford needing better connections to the east coast and Scotland, this could mean a line going past the town and on towards Gnosall and Stafford.^[25]

Walking

Newport is on National Route 55 and Regional Route 75 of the Sustrans National Cycle Network.

The town sits on the Way for the Millennium walk way which is 65 km (40 mi) long.

Sport and clubs

Newport is home to a large extent of different sports clubs, playing at all different levels of professionalism and covering all different sports, with all the main sports in the UK catered for in and around the town, with football, cricket, bowls and archery located in the Granville avenue/Audley avenue area of the town, surrounding Audley villa which was once the club house of Newport horse racing course, floodlit tennis courts are located in the High street, rugby is at top of Forton road, swimming and fishing located by Victoria park and most else can be catered for at Lillishall hall which is a national sports centre

Newport Town FC play in the Shropshire County Premier Football League, with the youth football team called Nova United FC. Both teams play their home games at Shuker Field, a three-acre field close to the Burton Borough School. Nova United play in the Telford Junior League. There was recently a team called Newport County Borough FC, but they now play in Telford as "Dawley Villa".

The town is also a stronghold for supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers with a bus travelling to all Wolves away games picking up at Newportl, see telfordwolves.com

One of the main sports in the county is Crown green bowling and the team has one of the most successful teams in the area and most supported Newport Crown Green Bowls club play in the Premier Division of Shropshire after promotion from the Mid Shropshire division one as well as many other division and leagues

Longford Hall.

Newport (Salop) Rugby Union Football Club is the highest ranked rugby club in Shropshire and the main club in the town

Audley Villa,First built as Newport race course.

Newport Cricket Club play in the Shropshire Premier Cricket League Premier Division .

Shropshire Climbing Centre offers a state of the art bouldering and roped climbing facility, in Newport, with over 350 sq m of bouldering, it is are the largest bouldering venue in the West Midlands.

Work in 2009 was completed on the £200,000 Newport Sk8 park which is the largest skatepark in Shropshire and the largest W/ramp in Britain.

The other teams of Newport are as follows:

• Athletics; Newport Running Club, Newport Gymnastic Club and Newport Athletics club
• Ball games; Aqualate Golf Club, Boughey Gardens Tennis Club, Forton Cricket Club, Newport Badminton Club, Newport & District Netball Club, Newport Roller Hockey Club
• Archery; Audco Archers, Grand National Archery Society
• Water sports; Newport & District Synchronised Swimming Club, Newport Water Polo Club. Newport Swimming club, Serck Audco Angling Club
• Motor sports; Newport Motocross Team
• Other teams; Newport Chess Club
• Newport Comedy, Music, Movies, Politics, Walking & Writers!

Newport is also notable for its many Performing arts organisations, with two stage schools taking residence up weekly at local venues, multiple theatre groups also are organised throughout the community most notably the amateur dramatics group, held at venue cosy hall, and youth organisation Sketch Off theatre, who have currently no base, but both have raised a considerable amount for charity and the community. Most recently, the Burton Borough school has now under gone development to being a Arts college.

Lilleshall Sports Centre

Lilleshall Hall - formerly the country retreat and hunting lodge for the Duke of Sutherland, situated just two miles from the centre of Newport and is now home to the Lilleshall National Sports Centre.

Notable residents

Newport has had many notable residents in its long history, both residing in the town or being educated in one of the schools in the town such as the Adams' Grammar School which has a long list of notable alumni or at the Harper Adams University College, which brings in academics from all over the world.

Arts

• Barrington J. Bayley - writer
• Michael J. Bassett – film director and scriptwriter
• James Sutton - actor
• John Meeson Parsons – (1798–1870) art collector
• Francis Neilson – (1867–1961) writer
• Matthew Smith – spy, intriguer and writer
• Richard Barnfield – (1574–1620) poet
• Ewen Henderson – (1934–2000) ceramic artist
• James Hain Friswell – (1825–1878) essayist and novelist
• Samuel Johnson – (1709–1784) author
• Simon Bates – (1947– ) BBC Radio 1 DJ

Sport

• Adam Proudlock - Wolverhampton Wanderers FC footballer
• Paul Bracewell - England international footballer
• Reuben Jones - medallist in the Olympics for horseriding
• Simon Holt - cyclist
• Ryan Palmer - chess champion
• David Gittus M.B.E. World Trail Orienteering Champion 2006 (Finland)
• Herbert Elliott - cricketer

Military

• Admiral John Benbow - (1653?–1702)
• Colonel Benbow - shot in 1651 by the Roundheads, outside Shrewsbury Castle

Other

• Thomas Louis Green^{[disambiguation needed ]} - (1799–1893) priest and controversialist.
• Thomas Brown (1663–1704) - satirist
• Thomas Rose - (died 1837) thief
• Robert Hendy-Freegard - (born 1971) barman, car salesman, conman and impostor who masqueraded as an MI5 agent
• Michael Jack - chairman of the Hartington Group, which has its headquarters in the town
• William Adams - haberdasher
• Craig Phillips - winner of Big Brother 2000
• Boughey Baronets
• William Cureton - orientalist

Science and mathematics

• Sir Oliver Lodge - (1851–1940) invented the electrical spark ignition for the internal combustion engine, first principal of Birmingham University.
• James Edward Quibell - (1867–1935) Egyptologist
• Percy John Heawood - (1861–1955) mathematician

Politics

• Charles Silvester Horne - MP for Ipswich
• Peter Bottomley - MP for Worthing West
• John Benbow - clerk of the Crown whose right to use a coat of arms was confirmed in 1622
• Robert Puleston - supporter of Owain Glyndŵr, at the time of his rebellion against King Henry IV
• William Kenyon-Slaney - sportsman, soldier and politician

Surrounding villages and hamlets

The town is surrounded by many different small villages, ranging from the larger settlements of Edgmond and Lilleshall to smaller hamlets all of which are joined to the town or separated only by a small distance; most of these settlements are seen as parts of the town's catchment zone and as Newport is on the Shropshire/ Staffordshire border many lie in South Staffordshire but their postal address is still Newport, these are as follows:

Chetwyind Lodge, leading to Chetwynd Park estate

• Church Aston
• Chetwynd
• Longford
• Edgmond
• Moreton, Staffordshire
• Meretown
• Adeney
• Stockton, Shropshire
• Pave Lane
• Bromstead Heath (Staffordshire)
• Great Chatwell (Staffordshire)
• Forton, (Staffordshire)
• Coley (Staffordshire)
• Outwoods (Staffordshire)
• Wilbrighton.

Closest cities, towns and villages

See also

• Wrekin White Cheese
• Newport 1665 (Cheese)
• Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne
• Shrewsbury and Newport Canal
• Newport Show
• Newport (Shropshire) (UK Parliament constituency)

External links

1. ^ "Newport to Cardiff - Distances in Miles and Kilometres". Airport-Accommodation.com. http://www.airport-accommodation.com/distance-from-shrewsbury-to-cardiff.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
2. ^ "Shrewsbury: the Town". SevernVale.co.uk. http://www.severnvale.co.uk/index2.php?Mnu=04&Language=gb. Retrieved 2008-02-24. 
3. ^ "Newport". world-gazetteer.com. http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1231970164&men=gpro&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-81&srt=pnan&col=adhoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=x&geo=-70034. 
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ Shropshire villages are proud of Heart of England in Bloom success « Shropshire Star
7. ^ Natural England - Aqualate Mere NNR
8. ^ Newport tourism plans « Shropshire Star
9. ^ Newport High Street revamp commenced | Wellington News
10. ^ Market building unearthed in Newport, Shropshire « Shropshire Star
11. ^ Page Error
12. ^ Opening of £5 million hotel creates 40 jobs « Shropshire Star
13. ^ Newport, Shropshire, Aldi supermarket plan « Shropshire Star
14. ^ [3] Newport Advertiser - Revealed: massive plans for Newport
15. ^ New homes boosting Shropshire property sales « Shropshire Star
16. ^ Transition tone Newport.com
17. ^ Shropshire star
18. ^ [4]
19. ^ [5]
20. ^ County house sales ‘improving’ « Shropshire Star
21. ^ http://www.telfordcouncilwatch.org.uk/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,27/func,view/catid,83/id,10862/
22. ^ Newport music festival
23. ^ Town urged to support radio bid » Newport Advertiser
24. ^ [6]
25. ^ http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/03/29/plan-unveiled-to-restore-telford-to-stafford-rail-line/

• Newport Town Council
• Newport-online (The community pages of Newport, shropshire)