Langstone is a

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, ...

and village of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Newport, Wales. The area is governed by the

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

. The community had a population of 3,279 in 2011.

Location

Langstone is situated on the eastern edge of the city and is one of Newport's more affluent areas, less than a mile from Junction 24 (Coldra) of the M4 motorway. Some of the ward is hilly and heavily forested, with stunning walks ideal for bird watching, dog walking or just a little stroll. It is bounded to the north and east by the city boundary, to the west by the

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

ward with museum's, gallery and Roman secrets galore. To the south west by the Ringland and

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 ...

wards. The woods in Ringland are full of native species where ancient and survival craft workshops have been enjoyed by many. Just a short drive east and you can find two stunning castles one in Caldicot, a little further and you have Chepstow Castle and famous racecourse. The wonderful Wentwood forest and tea rooms is just 5 miles from Langstone. The largest ancient woodland in Wales, perfect for foraging, dog walking mountain biking, geocaching and so much more. With a nursery, garden center, cafe, giftshop, garage, greengrocer and thriving village hall, it is truly a little gem. Village life perfectly placed for city living and modern culture or escapism into ancient woods and walks into the past. Perfectly placed to go exploring the stunning Welsh coast and eating fish and chips on the beach in the time it can take to get a takeaway. Ten minutes and you can be at the wonderful Goldcliff Seawall with its ancient secrets captured for all. A mere 20 minutes drive through the rural rolling landscape of the Usk valley and you have the stunning Llandegfedd Lake a hub for health wellbeing and recreation. Great for sailing paddle boarding picnics or fossil hunting.

Development

The original village was a small linear settlement along the A48 (Chepstow Road) and its offshoot, Tregarn Road. Since the 1990s, many have moved to the area because of its appeal as being

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 descri ...

, but also minutes away from the M4 motorway. This population influx in the '90s resulted in the construction of a large housing development at the bottom of Cat's Ash Road, together with developments of housing estates, big and small, along Tregarn Road and Magor Road. The community contains the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s of Llanbedr, Llandevaud and Llanmartin as well as Langstone itself.

History

The actual village of Langstone (excluding the adjoining villages of Penhow-Parc Seymour, Llanvaches, Llandevaud, Llanbedr and Llanmartin) in 1801 had 126 inhabitants. By 1901 the population had risen to 206. The

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for Nationa ...

recorded the population as 3,905 people. In 1891 Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire noted that Llanbedr was a hamlet, one and a half miles north-east of the parish, on the road from Newport to Chepstow. There were some remains of a church there, being then used as a barn. In July 2018, after a long period of warm dry weather, crop marks of a prehistoric or Roman farm near the village were revealed. The site was recorded by the

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectur ...

(RCAHMW) before it disappeared again with the next rains. The parish church has 13th-century origins. In 1622 the nave was extended after the south porch, which is probably 16th-century. The church was restored in 1907 and north and south chapels to the

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

probably date from this time. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It is part of the Magor Ministry. It has no known patron saint.

Scheduled Ancient Monuments

The following Ancient Monuments are in the Langstone community: * Kemeys Inferior Motte and Bailey castle * Pen-Toppen-Ash Roman

marching camp In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

* Caer Licyn *

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 ...

* Langstone Villa moated site * Langstone Mound and Bailey Castle - discovered in 1964 during construction of the M4 motorway. * A round barrow south of Stock Wood * All Saints' Church, Kemeys Inferior * St Curig's chapel (remains of), Catsash * Moated site south west of Court Farm * Moated site south west of Pencoed Castle Both Pencoed Castle and Penhow Castle fall within the boundaries of Langstone. Penhow Castle is privately owned. The area is also home to Penhow Quarry, owned by

Hanson plc Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London ...

Governance

The

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Newport East, which includes Langstone, is

Jessica Morden Jessica Elizabeth Morden (born 29 May 1968) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport East since 2005. Early life and career Morden was born in Surrey, England and brought up in Cwmbran and educ ...

( Labour) who assumed office in 2005. The Member of the Senedd for Newport East is John Griffiths, who assumed office in 1999. Since May 2022 Langstone has been part of the 'Bishton and Langstone' electoral ward, which elects two councillors to

. A ward called Langstone existed until 2022, which also covered the communities of

Penhow Penhow ( cy, Pen-hŵ) is a small village and community (parish) just inside the eastern edge of the boundary of the city of Newport, South Wales, within the historic county of Monmouthshire. The name Penhow is believed to be derived from the W ...

and

Llanvaches Llanvaches or Llanfaches is a village and community parish within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population ro ...

(ward population 2,770).

Amenities

Langstone Primary School celebrated its 50th birthday in 2004, and currently has about 300 pupils. Until the 1970s the school intake stretched as far as Nash,

Goldcliff Goldcliff ( cy, Allteuryn) is a village, parish and community to the south east of the city of Newport in South Wales. It lies within the Newport city boundaries in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Admi ...

, Whitson,

Bishton Bishton or Bishopston ( cy, Llangadwaladr Trefesgob or simply ''Trefesgob'') is a small rural community (Wales), community in the east of the city of Newport, Wales, Newport, South Wales. It lies in the Llanwern electoral district (ward) and con ...

and Llandevaud. The school is now serving simply Langstone and its surrounds. Pupils receiving a

Welsh-medium education Education delivered through the medium of the Welsh language is known as Welsh-medium education (). Welsh-medium education should be distinguished from the teaching of the Welsh language itself as an academic subject. 16% of pupils in Wales atte ...

have the Welsh-medium as their local school.

References

External links

Langstone Primary School websitePhotos of Langstone and surrounding areas
Geograph
Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd website
{{authority control Communities in Newport, Wales Villages in Newport, Wales