Newtown is a small village in the civil parish of Calbourne, Newtown and Porchfield, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, England. In medieval times it was a thriving borough. Newtown is located west of the town of Newport on the large

natural harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

on the island's north-western coast. It is now mostly a national nature reserve owned and managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The Caul Bourne streams through

Calbourne Calbourne is a village in the civil parish of Calbourne, Newtown and Porchfield, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is located 5 miles (8 km) from Newport in the west of the island. The village takes its name from the stream that passes th ...

, passes Newbridge and

Shalfleet Shalfleet is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. it is located between Yarmouth and Newport in the northwest of the island. Background The name "Shalfleet" means "shallow stream". The stream in this case is the stream passing th ...

and empties into the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

at Newtown.

History

The town was originally called Francheville (i.e. 'Freetown'), and only later renamed Newtown. It was probably founded before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...

. There is some indication that it was attacked by Danes in 1001. The earliest known charter was granted by the Bishop-elect of Winchester, Aymer de Valence. He signed it at his ecclesiastical estate of

Swainston Manor Swainston Manor is an English country house, lying to the east of Calbourne, Isle of Wight, England. It is now a hotel. History Swainston Manor was originally a manor house on a site dating back to 735 CE. Eight centuries ago, it became the l ...

in 1256. The early hopes for its success are reflected in the names of its streets, such as Gold Street and Silver Street. However, it will have had competition from Yarmouth, Newport and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In 1284 it was somewhat reluctantly given to

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

. Apparently there were about 60 families living in Newtown at the start of the 14th century. By the mid 14th century, Newtown was starting to mature into a thriving commercial centre. In 1344, it was assessed at twice the value of Newport. Its harbour was busy and reputed to be the safest on the island. There was a prosperous saltworks and abundant oyster beds. There was an annual three-day festival on the "eve, the day and the morrow of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen", who was honoured in the name of the local thirteenth-century chapel. Then, the

great plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causin ...

struck, and subsequently a French raid in 1377 destroyed much of the town, from which it never truly recovered. By the middle of the 16th century, it was a small settlement eclipsed by the more easily defended town of Newport. A survey in 1559 noted that Newtown no longer had a market, and did not have a single good house still standing. Its harbour slowly became clogged with silt and inaccessible to larger vessels. In 1584 Elizabeth I breathed some life into the town by awarding it two parliamentary seats. Newtown Town Hall was built in the 17th century. However, these seats ultimately made Newtown borough one of the most notorious of the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

s, prevalent in the UK before the 19th century reforms. By the time of the

1832 Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

that abolished the seats, a survey found that Newtown had just fourteen houses and twenty-three voters, whilst massively larger municipal areas with many more voters had less representation. The town hall was restored in 1813, and again in the 1930s. It is now open to the public. The Newtown Arms Inn was closed in 1916. It was in an unusually shaped building referred to locally as "Noah's Ark." Newtown remained small, but this has preserved its original layout, which is of historical interest. There are two square ponds by the boathouse, which were dug as

saltern A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...

s as part of the former local salt industry. The harbour and salterns have since become a habitat for fish native to the Isle of Wight and its surrounding waters, with large populations of

Flathead grey mullet The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous English names ...

living in both the harbour and the salterns. Although there are a number of private residences still in use and the harbour is still accessible and used by small to medium vessels, Much of the land Newtown is situated on is now under the ownership of the

, with the hamlet being at the centre of a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

built around the old harbour. Newtown is popular with tourists and birdwatchers, as numerous uncommon native species use the salt marshes to nest.

Legend

There are stories of a pied piper, hired for 50 pounds to save Newtown from an excess of rats, which are similar to the story of the

Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...

, Germany. He is said to have played his pipe and led the rats into the

, where they drowned. The townspeople refused to pay the agreed price, and gave the piper 20 pounds, so he then led the children away. The town lost an entire generation, so had no young people to defend it when the French attacked in 1377.

Transport

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...

operates an infrequent bus route 35, Newbridge to Newport, via Newtown, Porchfield and Marks Corner.

References

External links

National Trust site for the Town Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newtown, Isle Of Wight Villages on the Isle of Wight Ports and harbours of the Isle of Wight National Trust properties on the Isle of Wight