Newent


Newent is a small market town and civil parish about northwest of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. Its population at the 2001 census was 5,073, increasing to 5,207 at the 2011 census. It was a medieval market and fair town, whose site had been settled since at least Roman times and appeared first in the historical record in the 1086 Domesday Book.

Etymology

Noent, the original name for Newent, may mean "new place" in Celtic. It also may mean "new inn" to reference lodging for travellers to Wales, according to John Leland. According to Leland, there was a house called "New Inn", later named The Boothall, which provided lodging along the road to Wales.

Geography

Newent is on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean and within the Forest of Dean District. It is south-east of the River Wye, which was connected via Newent to Gloucester in the late 18th century, by the 34-mile Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal.

History

Romano-British period

A Roman road was constructed between Newent and Ariconium, near what is now Ross-on-Wye. Within of Newent, there were several metal-working sites used by the Romans. Aside from these, there is evidence of Romano-British settlement at up to 56 sites within of Newent. Archaeological evidence includes old Roman coins and pottery found near Newent, Roman coins and treasure at Little Gorsley, and a settlement at Dymock.

Newent Priory

A cell to the Cormeilles Abbey, founded in Normandy in 1060 by William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, was established in the village. The abbey received an endowment from him which included the manor of Newent and the surrounding woods, the church and its income, and other properties he owned in England.
The Benedictine priory became part of the college of Fotheringhay after the suppression of alien priories during the wars with France. The priory was a site now occupied by The Court House, adjacent to the parish church.

Domesday Book

The Domesday Book shows that in 1066 the lord of Newent, then spelt Noent, was Edward the Confessor and 20 years later Cormeilles Abbey was the tenant-in-chief and one of the lords. Other lords were Durand of Gloucester and William son of Baderon. With 34.5 households, it was located within the Botloe Hundred of Gloucestershire. There were 10 villagers, 19 smallholders, four slaves and one reeve. There were also four lord's plough teams, 19 men's plough teams, and three mills.

St Mary

St Mary the Virgin, of the Church of England, is a Grade I listed building. Located in Church Street, it dates from the 13th century, but the site has been used since the Anglo-Saxon period. St Mary's Church has stained glass windows from the famed company of Clayton and Bell. Set on a tower with eight bells, is a spire. The church's organ was built in 1737 by Thomas Warne, a resident of the town.

Market and fair town

approved of an annual fair in 1226 and additionally allowed for a weekly market beginning in 1253. Located in the town is a half-timbered market house.

19th century

In 1848, Newent had a population of 3,099, of whom 1,454 people lived in the town. This was fewer than in earlier periods. There were mineral springs near the canal.
The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal between Gloucester and Ledbury closed on 30 June 1881 and the section between Ledbury and Gloucester was converted into a railway line. This line, a branch of the Great Western Railway, opened on 27 July 1885. The line closed in 1959, but the canal is now being restored.)

Historic places

Newent has many historical buildings, including a stilted Market House and a number of other black-and-white, half-timbered buildings typical of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Behind Church Street, a former museum of Victorian life called the Shambles was home to a replica 19th-century street that is now occupied by real traders.
More than 50 buildings and monuments in the town centre are listed by Historic England, including most of those in Church Street. They also include Devonia in High Street, a Grade II-listed house dating from the Georgian period. The early 18th-century Court House situated in a small park beside the parish church, occupies the site of the ancient priory and is reputed to contain the foundations of the former building. The house contains historic features that include a fine Rococo plaster ceiling and several complete panelled rooms. The building was restored by R. V. Morris, Chairman of Gloucester Civic Trust.

Transport

The nearest railway station is Ledbury on the Cotswold Line. The main bus routes through the town connect it to Ross and Gloucester.
Newent used to be served by Newent railway station on the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway, which opened in 1885. The station stood opposite what is now the fire station. It was closed to passengers in 1959 and for freight traffic in 1964. The buttresses of the Station Bridge can be seen in Old Station Road.

Attractions

Newent is home to the National Birds of Prey Centre, just east of the neighbouring village of Cliffords Mesne and a vineyard :The Three Choirs. It is at the centre of the Golden Triangle, so-called because of the preponderance of daffodils in the surrounding area.
The town holds an onion fair each September, at which there are competitions for growing onions and for eating them.

The arts

The town is home to an orchestra, founded in 1940, a choral society, and several other amateur musical and performing groups.
Traditionally, May Day has been celebrated by morris dancing on the summit of nearby May Hill at dawn, after which the dancers would process into Newent.
Between 2007 and 2014, a Joe Meek festival was held in venues around the town.
The Onion Fayre is now the town's principal annual event. Its onion show and onion-eating competitions date from 1996 as a restaging of a historical agricultural fair that died out around the time of World War I. It now claims to be the largest free, one-day festival in Gloucestershire, attracting up to 15,000 visitors on the second Saturday in September.
Artist Paul Nash took a collection of photographs around Carswalls Farm, Upleadon, Newent in the late 1930s or early 1940s that are held in the archives of the Tate.

Education

Education commissioners in the reign of Edward VI noted the lack of schooling in Newent. Gloucestershire commissioners reported that Newent was a market town with over 500 inhabitants, but "all the youth of a great distance there hence rudely brought up and in no manner of knowledge and learning, where were a place meet to... erect a school for the better and more godly bringing up of the same youth." Newent is now served by three schools, two of them federated, all within the town. The federation of Glebe Infant School and Picklenash Junior School provides primary education, while Newent Community School provides both secondary and tertiary education for those aged 11 and upwards.

Sports and recreation