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 the 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 Romans knew the area and used the high land for their road to Whitchurch.
Newport has long been part of the strategic network of routes from the North and
Wales to London. The Salt Route came from Nantwich, down Shray Lane to Forton
and the Portway (now Forton Road) to Newport. It ran along Salters Lane and
continued to Holywell.
In an Anglo-Saxon Charter of 963 King Edgar granted land at Easton to his
Thegn, Wulfric, and this has been identified as Church Aston. Plesc, which is
mentioned in the same Charter, is probably Newport and boundary features can
still be matched.
In the 12th century for the purpose of trade, the Norman's planned
a 'New Town' beside the older settlement. This resulted in the distinctive long
wide High Street, the burgage plots and the name Novo Burgo, meaning New Town.
The first market charter was granted by Henry I.
Medieval Newport flourished with trade in leather, wool and fish. Fish came
from the nearby vivary and 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.
In 1665 a great fire caused £30,000 worth of damage, with 166 families losing
their homes. The history of the succeeding decades is confused, but smart
Georgian facades, erected in the early 18th century, are a record of
the modernisation that took place.
Newport became an important coaching town on the route between Chester and
London. With the 19th century came the building of the canal in 1835
and the railway in 1849. Fine houses were built along Station Road and
Wellington Road and the Market Hall of 1860 asserted the town's pride.
The population of Newport in the 1670's was 900 and in 1851 it was around
2,900. Now, with some 10,500 inhabitants, it is a market town providing a
service centre for the area and maintaining ties with agriculture. Increasingly
people travel to the larger towns for work and with competition from Telford,
the future is not clear. However, its rich history shows that Newport is not
afraid to confront change.
