Newtown, Chester

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Newtown is a locality in Cheshire, England.

[edit] History

Newtown is located to the north-east of Chester, and can be found just outside Chester city walls and to the east of St Werburgh's Cathederal and the Phoenix Tower (King Charles' Tower)^[1]. The main layout of streets came about because of the canal location in the late 1790's and the position of the cattle market, at the center of the community and on Newtown's doorstep .

[edit] Origins

Newtown is an area of Chester located less than 5 minutes walk east from the City Walls. The position of Newtown, north-east of the City of Chester, within sight of Saint Werburgh's Cathederal Chester, and bounded by the Shropshire Union Canal, the Cattle Market and the two Chester Railway stations, (General and Northgate), meant that Newtown and Hoole were responsible for providing the vast majority of workers and therefore in turn, the vast amount of Chester wealth production throughout the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century.

From about 1793 when the canal at Chester was finished, through to the late 1950's, when the last flour mill closed, Newtown had been increasing in size and importance to the Chester economy. The area supported a thriving community of artisans and working class families who lived mainly in "two-up-two-down" terraced housing with no bathroom and an outside toilet.

Because of the location of the canal and later, due to the great railway building of the 1830's and 1840's in Great Britain, Chester (Newtown), along with Liverpool and Manchester became the hub of northern English commerce.

1899 OS map of N.E. Chester showing Newtown. The Cathederal grounds of St. Werburgh can be seen to bottom left of the map. The Phoenix Tower (King Charles' Tower) forms part of the Roman Walls of Chester.

The canal was the 'motorway' of its day, and 'narrowboats' boats (not barges!), carried produce and supplies to and from North Wales (Coal, Slate, Gypsum or lead ore). Finished lead (for roofing, water pipes/ and sewerage) produced in the huge 'Leadworks' factory in Edgerton Street Newtown was exported all over the country. Grain arrived from Cheshire farmland and was processed in the large graneries on the banks of the canal at Newtown and Boughton) and salt, (for preserving food-fish, meat), came in from Northwich.

The canal flows into the river Dee, and provided access to the port facilities at 'Crane Wharf' and the sea, and other ports such as the Port of Liverpool.

[edit] Area Attractions

Shops, Indian & Chinese Restaurants, 'Trendy' Housing, Cinema, Good Pubs.

[edit] Present Day (2007)

The large Chester & District Housing Trust run estate, referred to as ' The Saints Area' or Newtownsaints, is a mixture of sheltered accommodation and normal family occupancy.^[2] Newtownsaints has well kept grassed park-like areas resulting in a Good Community spirit, Community Meetings and Help/Advice Organisations.^[3]

[edit] Local Politics

City of Chester and West Cheshire shown as 1 on this map of Cheshire

The City of Chester and West Cheshire is the name for a new unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It will come into force from April 2009, if and when the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act is enacted,^[4] and will replace the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and Chester District. The equivalent unitary authority in the other half of the county will be called Cheshire East. The decision to create the Cheshire West unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007 following a consultation period, in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.^[5]

[edit] Local Councillors

City and St. Annes Ward:

Newtown councillors

• Ed Jonas St. Annes (2008) Tory
• Gwyneth Cooper St. Annes (2010) Labour

[edit] 2008 Election

The 2008 elections will be postponed due to local government re-organisation, meaning councillors elected in 2004 will serve for an additional year, before the authority is disbanded, therefore (excluding the possibility of by-elections and defections), the Conservatives will remain the governing party until May 2009, when elections for City of Chester and West Cheshire Council will take place.

See:Chester City Council Web Page for further information.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Images of England: Phoenix Tower. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
2. ^ Chester Housing
3. ^ Chester, Community, WebSite, NewTown Saints - (newtownsaints.co.uk) - HomePage
4. ^ Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill. Retrieval Date: 9 August, 2007.
5. ^ BBC News, 25 July 2007 - County split into two authorities. Retrieval Date: 25 July, 2007.