Newtown ( cy, Y Drenewydd) is a town in

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, Wales. It lies on the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the historic boundaries of

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

. It was designated a

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in 1967 and saw population growth as firms settled, changing its

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rur ...

character. Its 2001 population of 10,780 rose to 11,357 at the 2011 census.City Population site. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
/ref> Newtown was the birthplace of

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted ...

in 1771, whose house stood on the present site of the HSBC Bank.Biograph
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
/ref> The town has a theatre, Theatr Hafren,Theatre sit
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
/ref> and a public gallery, Oriel Davies, displaying contemporary arts and crafts.Gallery sit
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
/ref> It is the largest town in Powys and Mid Wales.

Etymology

Both the English and Welsh names for the town mean "new town", the Welsh version with addition of the

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...

History

At the end of the 13th century, Edward I commissioned Roger de Montgomerie to construct a centre for the hamlet of Llanfair-yng-Nghedewain. Being situated near a

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

ford below the Long Bridge and close to the church of

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

in Bettws Cedewain gave Newtown its original Welsh name. The foundation is connected to the fate of

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the ruler ...

, whose new administrative centre at Dolforwyn Castle near Abermule so alarmed Edward I that it was besieged. He seized Llywelyn's lands and granted them to the Mortimers. They transferred the administration of the ''

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which wer ...

'' of Cedewain and the ''

commote A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wale ...

'' of Ceri from Dolforwyn Castle to the new settlement at Newtown. Newtown (1293382)

The town grew in the 18th and 19th centuries around the

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

and

flannel Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, b ...

industry, stimulated by completion of the

Montgomeryshire Canal The Montgomery Canal ( cy, Camlas Trefaldwyn), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llany ...

. In 1838, the town saw Wales's first Chartist demonstration. The Cambrian Mills, opened in 1856, were the first steam-driven mills in Newtown. The mills stood beside the canal terminus on the east bank of the Severn. They expanded to become the largest of the Welsh woollen mills. However, by the end of the 19th century the Newtown mills were no longer competitive with those in the north of England. There was a disastrous fire in 1910 and another in 1912, after which the Cambrian Mills were not rebuilt. Thereafter Newtown was no longer an important centre of the woollen industry and many workers moved elsewhere. Newtown hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1965. In 1967, the town was designated a

. It saw a large population growth as firms and people settled, changing its

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

character.

Population

The population of Newtown appears to have peaked in 2011, when the census recorded 11,357 inhabitants, as against 10,780 ten years earlier. The estimated population in 2018 was 11,300, with 51.3 per cent female and 48.7 per cent male.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Newtown, at

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

(town) and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

level: Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council (often abbreviated to Newtown Town Council) and

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Governme ...

. The two parishes of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn were governed by a single local board from 1866. Such local boards became urban district councils under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, and the Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District Council went on to govern the town from 1894 until 1974. In 1974 all urban districts were abolished under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, with most of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District Council's functions passing to Montgomeryshire District Council. At the same time a community was established covering the area of the former urban district, with its council taking the name Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council. Further local government reorganisation took place across Wales in 1996, when Montgomeryshire District Council was abolished and its functions passed to Powys County Council. The Town Council has 16 elected members serving five-year terms, and employs a staff of about ten. It deals mainly with green spaces and public facilities, and as a representative voice for Newtown. The Council Chair or Mayor, elected by the councillors, has been Councillor John Byrne since May 2022. The community is represented on

by five county councillors, each representing a ward: Newtown Central, Newtown East, Newtown Llanllwchaiarn West, Newtown Llanllwchaiarn West and Newtown South.

Geography

Newtown lies about 8 miles (13 km) from the Wales-England border, in the narrow valley of the River Severn, which restricts development north and south of the town. It is surrounded by small villages, often referred to collectively as the Newtown area. The Newtown post town area, including the villages, has a population approaching 16,000. The villages include Aberhafesp,

Adfa The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...

, Bettws Cedewain, Bwlch-y-ffridd, Cefn-gwyn, Dolfor, Glanmule, Kerry, Llanllwchaiarn, Llanwyddelan, Mochdre,

New Mills New Mills is a town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a deep gorge cut t ...

, Pentre, Rhydlydan, Sarn and Tregynon.

Buildings and monuments

Built by Pryce Pryce-Jones, the Pryce Jones Royal Welsh Warehouse remains the tallest building in Newtown. The two towering structures housed the world's first

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placin ...

service depot. Bear Lanes, the town's main shopping centre, has a Tudor-style entrance. The building was once a hotel, ''The Bear'', which contributes to the centre's appearance today. The Robert Owen Museum is on the ground floor of the council offices in Brisco House, Broad Street. A statue of

was erected in 1956 in a park off Shortbridge Street and Gas Street. A replica of this was later erected in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. The Free Library building designed by the architect Frank Shayler of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...

was built in 1902. The Baptist Chapel, dating from 1881, is a fine example of nonconformist architecture from that period. The Back Lane drill hall was completed in 1897.

Theatres, museums and galleries

*Theatr Hafren – a 555-seat venue *Powys Theatre – home of the Newtown Amateur Dramatic Society *

Museum *Textile Museum * W H Smith Museum (above the shop) *Oriel Davies – largest visual arts venue in the region

Transport

Newtown's station is on the

–

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

line served by Transport for Wales. Trains run about once in two hours. Local bus services in and around the town are operated by local, privately owned companies: Tanat Valley Coaches, Minsterley Motors, and Owen's Travelmaster. Newtown has one

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

bus per day in each direction, to Aberystwyth and to London. Newtown has one TrawsCymru route to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and a TrawsCymru Connect to

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a ...

and to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Two major roads meet at Newtown: the A483 from

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Local ...

and the A489 from

Craven Arms Craven Arms is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, on the A49 road and the Welsh Marches railway line, which link it north and south to the larger towns of Shrewsbury and Ludlow respectively. The Heart of Wales railway lin ...

. The bypass to the south of Newtown opened on 14 February 2019, having been planned since 1949. The Montgomery Canal terminated in Newtown. After its closure in 1944, the Newtown section was sold for building land, but it gave its name to Canal Road and Lower Canal Road.

International relations

Twin towns - sister cities

* Les Herbiers,

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Notable people

(1771–1858), social reformer and a founder of

Utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

and the

Co-operative Movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

. * John Bentley (1822–1894), member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

* Pryce Pryce-Jones (1834–1920), mail-order entrepreneur born at Llanllwchaiarn, near Newtown * Geraint Goodwin (1903–1941), novelist and short story writer in English, born in Llanllwchaiarn, near Newtown

Sport

* George Latham (1881–1939), international footballer * Harry Beadles (1897–1958), Welsh international footballer, born in Llanllwchaiarn, near Newtown * James Crisp (1927–2005), cricketer *

Barry Hoban Barry Hoban (born 5 February 1940) is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 ...

(born 1940), professional cyclist with several stage wins in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours (the Giro d'It ...

* Philip Parkin (born 1961), professional golfer and commentator * Phil Mills (born 1963), World Rally Championship winning co-driver

Sports

Newtown A.F.C. is Newtown's

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club, and a founding member of the Welsh Premier League in 1992. The club was founded in 1875 as Newtown White Stars and won the Welsh FA Cup in 1879 and 1895. It also entered the qualifying stages of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

on three occasions. The club plays at Latham Park. This has a capacity of 5,000 (1,750 seated) and a full UEFA licence, allowing under-21 international games and European games to be played. In 2007, another 250-seat stand was built next to the media gantry. Further developments are planned. Newtown RFC is the town's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its ...

club, established in 1925. It currently fields first, second, third, youth and junior teams. Newtown has facilities for lawn bowls, cricket, and for tennis. A basketball club, the Newtown Titans was set up in 2005, before being reconstituted as Mid-Wales Basketball Club in 2009.

Education

The Newtown schools are Ysgol Cedewain (special needs), Ladywell Green (ages 4–7), Hafren Junior (7–11), Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd (4–11), St Mary's (4–11), Penygloddfa (4–11), Maesyrhandir (4-11), Treowen (4–11), and Newtown High School and Sixth Form (11–18). The last recently received an outstanding Estyn inspection report in October 2015, praising many features, including teacher/sixth-form pupil relations and school support for a wide range of post-16 vocational and academic subjects. As of 2011, it was proposed that Newtown High School, along with several other schools in Powys, should merge with another county high school, as part of Powys County Council's secondary school and post-16 modernisation programme.Powys CC plan
Retrieved 15 September 2018.
/ref>

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Populated places on the River Severn Towns in Powys New towns in Wales Towns of the Welsh Marches New towns started in the 1960s