Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for NEWTOWN

NEWTOWN, a decayed town and a chapelry in Calbourne parish, Isle of Wight. The town stands on acreek of its own name, 1 mile S by W of the Solent, and 4¼ E of Yarmouth: was originally called Francheville; belonged anciently to the Bishops of Winchester; received from Aymer, half-brother of Henry III., a charter which was confirmed by several kings; passed to the Crown in the time of Edward I.; was destroyed by the Danes in 1001, and by the French in 1377; was rebuilt, after the latter date, under the name of Newtown; never re-acquired its previous importance, in consequence ofits trade having been attracted mainly to Newport; retained sufficient importance in 1585 to be then invested with the privilege of sending two members to parliament; continued to send them till the passing of the reform actin 1832, when it was disfranchised; fell gradually and continuously, not withstanding its borough character, into a state of decadence; is now so reduced as to comprise only a way-side inn, a small church, a town hall of 1699, a farm-house, and about a score of cottages; and presents memorials of its former greatness in the names of houseless lanes at and near it, as High-street, Gold-street, Kay-street, Drapers-alley. The church was rebuilt in 1837; incorporates a fragment of a previous old church; and is a high-shouldered building, in the early English style. Several large salterns are on the shores of the creek, below the church. A good harbour is in the creek's mouth, and admits vessels of 500 tons. Pop. of the town in 1861, 99. Houses, 22. The chapelry has no defined limits; and is annexed to therectory of Calbourne, in the diocese of Winchester.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a decayed town and a chapelry"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Calbourne CP/AP       Hampshire AncC
Place: Newtown

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.