Newport, Shropshire

Newport

Newport from Cheney Hill

Coat of arms of Newport
Newport
 Newport shown within Shropshire
Population 10,814 (2000)
OS grid referenceSJ745191
   – London  148 mi (238 km) SE[1] 
Civil parishNewport
Unitary authorityTelford and Wrekin
Ceremonial countyShropshire
RegionWest Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town NEWPORT
Postcode district TF10
Dialling code 01952
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK ParliamentThe Wrekin
WebsiteOfficial website
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire

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

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. An estimate in 2008 placed the population between 12,444[2] and 15,632.[3]

Newport is a Britain in Bloom finalist and has been awarded the silver gilt award from the Heart of England regional, making it the first town in the country to win six gold awards in a row.[4] The 2010 competition, wherein it won more points than any town in the United Kingdom.[5] gave Newport its seventh consecutive gold medal.

Naming

The Normans planned a new town called Novo Burgo between the older settlements of Edgmond and Plesc, near 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, which ran from Colchester to Chester), and partly because of the number of fisheries (which are mentioned in the Domesday Survey). The River Meese, which flows from Aqualate Mere, lies to the north of the town.

Newport sits on a sandstone ridge on the eastern border of the Welsh Marches and west of the Aqualate Mere, the largest natural lake in the English Midlands[6] The area around it at the end of the last Ice Age was part of Lake Lapworth. Formed from melting glaciers, it covered a vast area of North Shropshire. Early man fished here and two ancient log boats were uncovered a mile from Newport. One has been preserved and is kept at Harper Adams University 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

Newport is located in the historic kingdom of Mercia, near where Wreocensæte, capital the Wrekin, was once situated. Humans inhabited this area long before the creation of the town. Once established, Newport became a market town in the centre of the rural farming area between Stafford and Shrewsbury.

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 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", 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 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 came 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 High Street.

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 now no visible remains of the castle exist; however, the most probable location for it would have been 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, could have been the manor house of the Audleys, who were granted the manor in 1227. By 1421, the manor house was in ruins.

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 that they had enjoyed in the time of Henry I, including a guild 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 Leveson of Wolverhampton.

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

On the west between Lilleshall and the town was the Longford Estate of the Talbots, Earl of Shrewsbury, sold in 1789 to Ralph Leake 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 Burton Borough.

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

20th century

The town was fortunate to avoid casualties when on Christmas Eve 1944, a V-1 flying bomb launched from a Heinkel bomber and aimed at Manchester landed in a field East of Newport, about 300 yards from the Newport to Gnosall road.[7] This bomb is now on display at DCAE Cosford Royal Air Force Museum.[7]

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-surfacing 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 were demolished to make way for a retirement development, 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 acquire 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 1665 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 Boughey 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, Costa Coffee, two Euronics centres and Mackay's, 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 is 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.

Religious sites

St Nicholas's Church
Inside SS Peter and Paul Church designed by Augustus 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 Church of EnglandDiocese 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 the oldest Catholic church in Shropshire, designed by Augustus 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. A major renovation was undertaken in 2010.

Due to the growth and decline of religions over time some previous churches have since been used for other uses or been demolished altogether, 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 are the Newport Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Upper Bar, built 1829, which was turned into a shop and theatre in 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; it subsequently became a gym but has since been converted into a house.

Independent Chapel, Beaumaris Lane

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 selective state schools and a large comprehensive drawing students from far beyond the town, as well as 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 into 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 Village", "Main Street", "Sommervilles" and The Vine Vaults". Locally, it is referred to as "Mainers".

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, The Red House
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 hosted yearly at Chetwynd Deer Park and is the major annual event in the town, first held in Victoria Park in 1890 and now attracting 13,000 visitors each year. The show is now held at Chetwynd Deer Park between Edgmond and Newport. Newport Show has become one of the main agricultural shows in the county and West Midlands region due to its position near the town and size of the show ground, which also hosts 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 50 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. 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 bands) and the pheasant inn the August bank holiday weekend. The event attracts acts from around the country to raise money for MacMillan Cancer. In 2011, £1500 was raised by the event.

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 Aston
Tea Rooms The Lutine Bell · Smallwood lodge · Waitrose  · Craft Cafe & Pop Up Shop
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 · Masala
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 Street

Media

The Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser, is the towns weekly newspaper, in publication since 1854, premises 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 Magazine, first published in 1994 as Nova News, is a free monthly magazine distributed to Newport, Church Aston, Edgmond, Tibberton, Hinstock, Forton, Sutton, Norbury, Gnosall, Outwoods, Moreton, Sheriffhales, Muxton and Lilleshall.

The town is covered by Signal 107.7, (formerly Telford FM), BBC Radio Shropshire, Free Radio, (formerly Beacon Radio), and a local community radio station covers the town called Nova FM. The station is currently in transition to FM and will broadcast on 97.5FM by Summer 2015.

All About Newport, a community website offering local news and events, online directories of local independent businesses, clubs and charities and online visitor information for visitors to Newport.

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 is supposedly haunted by the local ghost, Madam Pigott.

Education

Newport Junior school

Newport has a full range of educational establishments, from primary schools to a university. The selective schools in the town were both in the top 70 selective schools in the country and were 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. Harper Adams University is located in the nearby village of Edgmond, and Keele University operates teaching rooms in the doctor's surgery for training student doctors. For students between secondary and university education, the closest colleges to the town are Telford College of Arts and Technology and Stafford College, with Buses running from the town to both colleges. Bus services to Stafford, Wolverhampton and Keele Universities also exist. Just outside the town is Edgmond Hall, used by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council for outdoor activities.

Schools in Newport, Shropshire
Infant Church Aston Infant School · Moorfield Primary School · St Peter & St Paul RC Primary School · Newport Infant School
Junior 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  · 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 an historical crossing point of the Via Devana.

The town became prominent as a coaching town on the Mail coach route between London, North Wales and Ireland as well being on a 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. At the centre of the town is a large island with the church of St. Nicholas at one end and Central Square nightclub at the other, the High Street on one side and St Mary's Street on the other side. The two streets come together at one end in front of the nightclub at the junction with the A518 from Stafford which runs through the town on an east-west route from Stafford to Telford. They come together at the other end by the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal beyond which is the junction with the A519 road from Eccleshall and Stoke-on-Trent. At the southern end of the High Street is another junction where the A519 road leaves on its way to Telford.

Before the road network the canal was the main link into the town. It is not currently connected to the national network, but there are plans to restore it to a fully working canal by the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust. linking into the national canal network at Norbury Junction to the east of the A41 which now borders the town to the east on a north-south by-pass route 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. Timetables are available from Newport Visitor Information Centre, located in the Pop Up Shop on Wellington Road.[23]

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.[24]

Cycling

Newport is on National Route 55 and Regional Route 75 of the Sustrans National Cycle Network. Cycle maps for these routes are available from Newport Visitor Information centre, located in the Pop Up Shop on Wellington Road. The cycle way to Stafford runs on the former railway line and will be completed by the end of 2014.[25]

Walking

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 West Midlands (Regional) League (Division Two)[26] and have a reserve side ("Edgmond Rangers") who play in the Mercian Regional Football League (Division Two). Newport Town were the league champions of the Shropshire County Premier Football League for the 2011-12 season, earning them promotion. Since promotion in 2012, the senior team now plays its home games at Harper Adams University College in Edgmond[26] and the reserve team also play in Edgmond. Previously they played their home games at Shuker Field, a three-acre field close to the Burton Borough School in Newport itself.

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 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:

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 undergone development to being an Arts college.

83DF(Chetwynd) Air Training Corps are also based in Newport.

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, which brings in academics from all over the world.

Arts

Sport

Military

Other

Science and mathematics

Politics

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

Closest cities, towns and villages

Destinations from Newport
Hodnet, Whitchurch Hinstock, Market Drayton Woodseaves, Eccleshall, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-upon-Trent
Edgmond, Tibberton, High Ercall, Shrewsbury Gnosall, Stafford
   Newport  
Lilleshall, Telford Shifnal, Bridgnorth Albrighton, Wolverhampton, Birmingham

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Newport, Shropshire.