Shirenewton / Drenewydd Gelli FarchExtract from Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire & South Wales, 1895.Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie, © Copyright 2011 SHIRE NEWTON is a parish, seated on a hill, 335 feet above the sea, and is 4½ miles north from Portskewett and 4½ south-west from Chepstow railway stations on the Great Western railway, in the Southern division of the county, Caldicot hundred, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Chepstow, rural deanery of Netherwent (Eastern division), archdeaconry of Monmouth, and diocese of Llandaff. The old Welsh name of this parish (which appears to have been but seldom used) was Tre-newydd-gellii-fach. This was anciently a detached portion of the lordship of Caldicot, and the eastern part of the parish is still included in the manor of Caldicot-cum-Newton. The church of St. Thomas a Becket is an ancient building of stone, founded by Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, about the middle of the 13th century, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle (added in 1853), and a massive tower, placed at the intersection of the nave and chancel, and containing 5 bells, all cast by William Evans, of Chepstow, in 1756: the tower is a good example of the peculiar fortified church towers of this district, and from the elevated situation of the church is a conspicuous object for many miles round: there is one modern stained window: the church affords 200 sittings, The register dates from the year 1730. The living is a rectory, tithe rent-charge £375, net yearly income £265, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Llandaff, and held since 1891 by the Rev. George Platt Dew B.A. of Jesus College, Cambridge. There is a chapel for Calvinistic Methodists at Gaerlwydd; and Wesleyan and Bible Christian chapels at Earlswood and one for Wesleyans in the village. The Society of Friends opened a burying-ground here in 1700, and the present Wesleyan chapel was built by them. The common land is inclosed and cultivated. There is a cromlech just outside the parish on the road to Usk, and upon a steep eminence in Llanmelin Wood, upwards of a mile from the village, and partly in this parish, and partly, in that of Caerwent, is a large British encampment, strongly defended by an inner and outer vallum, and having outworks on the north-eastern side towards the edge of the wood. Shire Newton Hall, the residence of Edward Joseph Lowe esq. F.R.S., J.P. is a large and beautiful residence, on the top of a very high hill, commanding most extensive views, embracing the whole of the Bristol Channel, from the estuary of the Severn to beyond Porlock Bay, backed by the Cotswold, Mendip, Quantock and Exmoor Hills. Just behind the hall there was formerly an ancient mansion, belonging to the Blethyn family, and said to have been once occupied by Bishop Blethyn, who died here in 1590. The Coombe (or Cwm) the property and residence of William Shaxson Lang esq. is pleasantly seated amidst secluded and picturesque scenery and sheltered from north and east winds by the surrounding hills. The manor of Caldicot-cum-Newton, embracing a considerable part of this parish, belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster, under which it is held by Charles Edward Lewis esq. of St. Pierre; there is another manor here, belonging to Lord Tredegar, and the rector is lord of the manor of the Rectory of Nova Villa, otherwise Shire Newton. The principal landowners are Edward Joseph Lowe esq. William Ecrward Carrie Curre esq. and Madame Nugent. The soil is clayey loam; subsoil, mountain limestone with some red sandstone. The crops are chiefly grain and turnips. The area is 3,590 acres; rateable value, 3,453; the population in 1891 was 648. Sexton, John Scott. Assistant Overseer, Thomas Williams, Gaerlwydd. Post, M.O.O., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office.- John Roberts, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive daily from Chepstow at 8 a.m..; dispatched at 6.16 p.m.; sundays, 9 a.m. St. Aryans is the nearest telegraph, office. Wall Letter Box, at Earlswood, cleared at. 5.30 p.m Schools. Board, Earlswood (mixed), built in 1861, for 80 children; average attendance, 50; Miss Mary E. Parkes, mistress Mynyddbach (mixed), built for 70 children; average attendance, 40; Miss E. Costello, mistress The Church Sunday school was built in 1874 County Police Station, Thomas Foxhalf, constable Dew Rev. George Platt B.A. (rector), Rectory COMMERCIAL. Langley John, horse dealer, Rhaeta |
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