Welsh Newton is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, England. It is located close to the border with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to which the parish extends towards

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

. It should not be confused with Newton, a township-chapelry in Clodock Parish and near Longtown, or with Newton Leominister. Its postal address is in Wales, with

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

as its post town.

History

The parish of Welsh Newton (which is grouped with the parish of Llanrothal to form Welsh Newton and Llanrothal Group Parish Council) contains two churches: a derelict

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

chapel and the church of St Mary the Virgin which is also CoE and of

Norman architecture The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used f ...

, at Welsh Newton (containing an original

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

). Catholic martyr St John Kemble, executed in 1679, is buried in St Mary's churchyard. There is another Anglican church at Llanrothal. The area contains a lot of history, including Pembridge Castle and at least thirty-one other

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

sites in Welsh Newton parish alone. The parish also contains a piece of

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, currently registered as unowned under the Commons Act 2006, at Welsh Newton Common; a hill (and

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

) overlooking the

Wye Valley The Wye Valley () is a valley in Wales and England. The River Wye () is the Rivers of Great Britain#Longest rivers in the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part of the valley is in the Cambrian Mountains an ...

. The village is said to be haunted by several restless spirits, including the headless coachman who has been seen many times on the lane from St Wulstan's Farm to the village. In the first week of December each year, several locals hold a ceremony to still the spirits. This takes place in the ruins of St Faith's Church. According to ''Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire 1929'': :"Welsh Newton is a Parish on the

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

and

road, three and a half miles north from Monmouth and 8 south west from Ross, in the Southern Division of the county, Wormelow

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

, Monmouth union and county court district, Harewood End Petty Sessional division, rural

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

Archenfield Archenfield (Old English: ''Ircingafeld'', Middle English: "Irchenfield") is the historic English name for an area of southern and western Herefordshire in England. Since the Anglo-Saxons took over the region in the 8th century, it has stretched ...

and

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

ry and

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of Hereford. The Parish extends into

. The church of St. Mary is a plain but ancient building of stone in the Norman style, consisting of

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, nave, south porch and a small western tower containing 2 bells: the screen is 12th century, lit by a 14th-century

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

: the roof is 14th century; the stained east window was presented by Mrs. Marriot, in 1879, and there are memorial windows to Mrs. Tylor, of Callow Hill, who died in 1881. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1798; marriages, 1758; burials, 1800. The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Llanrothal annexed in 1927...in the gift of the

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

. There is a Primitive Methodist Chapel on Welsh Newton Common. Pembridge Castle, built prior to the 13th century, is now a farmhouse. This historic castle was purchased by Dr. Hedley Bartlet (known as Mar Hedley, a Syro-Chaldean bishop), and partially restored in 1914; It was the home for many years of the priest and martyr Father John Kemble (d. 1679), whose tomb pilgrims visit in the village churchyard; his hand is preserved in a shrine at Hereford. The soil is loamy; subsoil, clay and rock. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, turnips and fruit. The area is 1,943

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

(7.9 km²)." (1) Cf Wikipedia: Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844

Folklore

In 1913, the historian John Hobson Matthews noted, “The bells of Welsh Newton, Herefordshire, are supposed to say: - "Erfin, cawl erfin" - turnips, turnip broth. This is taken to refer to the bareness of that parish “.

Welsh Newton Common

The settlement of Welsh Newton Common within the parish is scattered across an area of registered common land with no known owner. The last attempt to establish ownership was made by Margaret Eldrudd De L'Isle in 1976, the then owner of the Glanusk Estate. Following a hearing before the Commons Commissioners the application was refused and the common remains unowned. In the absence of an owner, Herefordshire Council manages but does not own the common, nor can it grant rights over it (for example, rights of way) as an owner might. Under section 45 of the Commons Act 2006 the council has the power to (a) take any steps to protect the land against unlawful interference that could be taken by an owner in possession of the land; and (b) institute proceedings against any person for any offence committed in respect of the land.

Notable buildings

Pembridge House is an 18th-century listed former Parsonage house situated in a central position within the village. Tremaide Farmhouse and its range of traditional farm buildings overlook the village to the east of the A466. Parkside Farm to the west of the village is a traditional stone farmhouse.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Herefordshire