Underwood is a settlement in the city of Newport,

South East Wales South East Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales generally corresponding to the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent. Highly urbanised, it includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as large towns in th ...

. It is an early 1960s council housing estate that consists of houses, shops, a leisure centre,

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and social club called "Iscoed Tavern" owned by the company red dragon pubs. There is a community centre which has a gym attached to it. The leisure centre is now up for sale.

Post-War development

The Underwood Estate was originally developed from the former

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Prisoner of War camp after the end of the war. A few surviving examples of the former PoW huts were still visible until the early 1990s when they were demolished. The original huts stood as early community buildings. In the early 1980s several huts and a water tower were also visible on the now Waltwood Park Drive area, this area belonged to the General Post Office and was used to house old telecommunications equipment until it was sold and demolished by British Telecom who took over the site when BT was

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

in the early 1980s. The land was subsequently sold to Westbury homes who built the Waltwood Park Drive Development of around 220 houses on the land. The estate is situated in a natural land formation within the falls of a wooded area on the south and north side and a small drainage ditch or

reen A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen ( South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or can ...

called "Monks Ditch" on the northern side of the development. Built in three phases, with the Waltwood Park Development being the last of the three phases. Many people believe that the Underwood Estate was created for the local steelworks at

Llanwern Llanwern is a community in the eastern part of the City of Newport, South East Wales. Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Lliswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city bo ...

, as it was constructed at the same time as the Richard Thomas and Baldwins "Spencer Works" was being built. This has some truth, as originally people moved into the huts after the war. However the local council at the time,

Magor and St Mellons Rural District {{Infobox historic subdivision, , Name= Magor and St Mellons , Image= , HQ= Newport , Status= Rural District , Start= 1935 , End= 1974 , Replace= Newport, Cardiff and Torfaen districts , Civic= , Popula ...

Council, created the housing estate with post-war initiatives for more housing, hence why the second phase of the housing development consists of rapid construction poured

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

houses which are very sturdy in construction and much stronger than traditional

bricks-and-mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

houses.

Amenities

The Leisure Centre was considered to be one of the best leisure centres in the area, even though it has no swimming pool. In fact it was widely known as one of the first in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It was built from funding provided by Richard Thomas and Baldwins, when the steelworks was constructed, built on land donated to the community by local farmer, Mr. Weeks, and still covered by a covenant on the land by the original donor. However, there are moves to change this donation to build upon the land, of which the local residents are ardently opposed to. Within the

Llanmartin Llanmartin ( cy, Llanfarthyn) is a village and parish in the city of Newport, Wales. The community The parish contains several communities and is centred on the parish church, which is dedicated to St. Martin, and which gives the name ''"Lla ...

area, a large man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

is located. This reservoir is built on Waltwood Hill. It consists of four lagoons which contain

Grey water Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...

. This water is used at the Llanwern steelworks. It remains private property and is off-limits to the public. Also,

Pencoed Castle Pencoed Castle is a ruined Tudor mansion, largely dating from the 16th century, in the parish of Llanmartin, now within the city of Newport, south Wales. It is located about east of Llanmartin village, and south-east of Llandevaud, at the en ...

is situated nearby. A small hamlet of Llanmartin consists of farms and a number of houses — the Old Barn Llanmartin is an old circa 1800 barn converted to a local public house serving quality food and drink. Within St. Martin's

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is a tomb of the ancestors from Pencoed Castle.

References

* http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-wales.php?cityid=W37000219 {{authority control Villages in Newport, Wales