Newnham’s importance lies in its position. The crossing of the River Severn here was established as one of the safest and most important from Roman times, partly because it was narrow (less than 500m). It lies on a huge loop of the Severn called The Horseshoe Bend.
In Roman times, three important roads (including the major military coast road) converged on Newnham and a ford existed, linking the forest with the Roman road network on the east side of the Severn. The Romans needed coal, iron, stone and timber from the Forest of Dean.
A ferry was first recorded in 1238.
By the late medieval period it had grown into an important port with trading links to Ireland, London, Bristol and the Midlands.
After this, Newnham’s importance and trade continued to grow and it reached a peak in the late 18th century, when it had become one of the most important ports in the area, specialising in transshipment of cargo up and down the Severn. By this time it was the chief town in Gloucestershire west of the Severn, and one of the most wealthy, being the focus of coaching routes and roads, but the growth of the railways caused a massive decline in the town’s trade and, after the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal opened in 1827 Newnham’s history as a port came to an end and the town declined rapidly, although its ferry remained in use until after the Second World War.
However, this economic decline has meant that the town, with many attractive houses, has been preserved for visitors to enjoy.
There is a history group in Newnham, with further information about the parish –
Readers might also enjoy this site, exploring drove roads across Britain
.
This early OS map (used courtesy of https://www.archimaps.co.uk) shows the crossing of the Severn. In the bottom right-hand corner can be seen our previous parish, Frocester. The Roman road to the crossing ran from there to the crossing, via Arlingham, where traces of a Roman road have been found.
In 1810, there was a failed attempt to build a tunnel at this point. The intention was to take coal from the expanding Forest of Dean collieries. This tunnel was to carry road traffic and horse-drawn coal wagons on a tramroad. The bore was to be 13 ft high and 12 ft wide.
Work began and the tunnel was extended well under the river. On Friday 13 November 1812 water broke into the tunnel, which was immediately flooded, and the workmen all managed to escape.
Brunel also considered building a bridge at this point (which would have had a massive 1,100 foot span. This plan got as far as receiving the approval of Parliament but did not proceed
Map is used courtesy of https://www.archiuk.com/
St Peters Church
The original church of St Peter was sited nearer to the river, on lower ground, but, because it was being undermined by the river, was rebuilt on a higher site further away from the river. This new church was dedicated in 1366.
The church was used as a garrison stronghold by Royalist forces during the Civil War and attacked by the forces of the Roundhead Governor of Gloucester in 1643. Cannonballs have occasionally been unearthed in the churchyard.
By 1874 this church had fallen into such disrepair that a decision was made to rebuild much of it, and it was reconsecrated a year later. But in 1881 disaster struck and fire gutted most of the building, leaving just the medieval tower, the vestry containing the records and plate (the Newnham brigade made a great effort to save these first), and the Norman font, found in the ashes by the west door. The parishioners were devastated, but with great determination were able to have the church rebuilt (again) to exactly the same design within eight months.
A plan of the churchyard is held in the church, and an interesting churchyard tour, detailing the more interesting burials, can also be purchased. There is also a link to the churchyard map here
The 12th-century font, carved with the figures of the 12 apostles, was moved when the new church was built on higher ground.
Originally there were two parallel streets running through the town, and the trees now stand where there was a row of houses.
The black and white image is reproduced courtesy of Derek King, on the Gloucestershire Social History Facebook page.
At one stage it was thought that the blocks of hard, black slag used in the construction of cottages in Church Road and other buildings in the village were products of the glass furnace in the town. It is now known that these slag blocks (which may also be seen in Swansea, Bristol and all along the River Severn) were transported from copper smelters on the River Wye and elsewhere.
The line from Gloucester to Chepstow East opened on 19 September 1851, and included a station at Newnham. It closed on 5 May 1941, and reopened on 7 October 1946. It finally closed on 2 November 1964.
There was also a railmotor service to Cinderford and Drybrook (1907–1958) and a branch line to Bullo Pill (closed 1968).
Sadly, the Victoria Hotel, a Grade II listed building is in a sorry state. The building dates back to 1622, and was once the private residence of Thomas Crump.
In 1891 and 1903 the Victoria Hotel had a substantial annual rateable value of £90.0s.0d., and the establishment was a fully licensed alehouse. William Henry King was both the owner and proprietor and there was no brewery tie. Closing time was at 11 pm.
When the proprietor of the Victoria Hotel, William King, died in 1913 the ‘important freehold property’ was put up for auction on Wednesday 22nd October. The sale particulars described an ‘old established, first class, fully licensed hotel and posting house with extensive stabling and garage – the whole being about 4,300 square yards in extent.’
The Gloucestershire Pubs and Breweries website (https://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/…/victoria-hotel…/) has further information on its decline.
Today, Newnham on Severn is an ideal place from which to watch the Severn Bore, but in the past, people would also would come and bathe, or at least paddle.
These two photos were taken at the Green (you can see the Severn behind the trees in the upper picture).
This was laid out in Victorian times as a formal promenade, taking in two separate designated Ancient Monuments.
The first is what remains of the Norman castle and the second is a Civil War Fieldwork. Both are important as relatively rare examples of such monuments in the period they represent.
During the Civil War, there was a Royalist garrison in the town, situated in the fort and the adjacent church. The Fieldworks were raised between 1842 and ’45, but the Parliamentary forces avoided them and entered the town further to the North, forcing the Royalists back into the church, where they were forced to surrender.
From Gloucester Social History Facebook page
‘January 1949. A FLOATING AIR-STRIP ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR USE IN THE INVASION OF JAPAN DURING THE LAST STAGES OF THE WAR, FORMS PART OF THE NEW SEVERN FERRY BETWEEN NEWNHAM AND ARLINGHAM, ON WHICH WORK HAS BEEN IN PROGRESS FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS.
About 550 feet of metal road on the Arlingham side of the river has already been constructed, and work on the 250ft, concrete jetty at Newnham is also well advanced.
When the Arlingham jetty is completed it will be 750ft. in length and a pontoon ferry will ply across the Severn between the two points, thus saving vehicular traffic something like 20 miles on the journey from Bristol to the Forest of Dean.
When the project is finished some 900 floating “lilies”- so called from their resemblance to a water-lily on the surface of a lake – will have been moved into position.
Since the air-strip was originally intended to be used on the sea the tidal effects of the Severn including the Bore, will not noticeably affect it.’
Unfortunately strong tides broke up the structure
before it was completed and the bridge removed.
The picture is taken from the Newnham on Severn Noticeboard for Everyone facebook page, and shows a lady being carried off the ferry, with a cart waiting to be unloaded behind her.
The picture is taken from the Arlingham side, with Newnham in the distance.
The present-day photo is of the remains of the ferry point, with, in the distance, the Old Ferry pub in Arlingham.
The Newnham and Blakeney Tabernacle was an Independent chapel founded in 1825. It was built on the Littledean road, was built in 1826 and had a congregation of 94 in 1851. It has a two-story front with round-headed windows with Gothic glazing. At present I have no image of it.
A new Congregational church in the High Street, a Gothic building in stone on a site given by Alfred and Tom Goold, was opened in 1864; and the building in the Littledean road was thereafter used for various secular purposes, but for about fifteen years until about 1962 it served as a chapel for Plymouth Brethren.
There was also a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Broad Oak, in the northern part of the parish. I can find very little about it, but in the Returns of accommodation provided in Wesleyan Methodist Chapels carried out in 1873, the attendance was 122. Finance records from 1935 to 1842 are stored at Gloucestershire Archives ref. 2689. A picture is on the right.
Bullo Pill is a small tidal creek, off the Severn, lying south of Newnham. It was developed in the 19th century by building a dock basin with lock gates, and wharfs for loading goods for shipment. Coal and stone from the Forest could be loaded at the dock and exported on the Severn trows up or down the river. In addition there was a flow of barges carrying coal across the river to Framilode and then along the Stroudwater Canal to Brimscombe, Stroud and Chalford.
In 1811 Haie Hill Tunnel was built, to be the first of its kind, to connect Soudley and Ruspidge, with their associated collieries and ironworks, to the the River Severn at Bullo Pill. It was originally intended for the horse-drawn Bullo Pill tramway, but was later enlarged for broad gauge by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and is said to be the oldest tunnel ever to be used by passenger carrying trains. It was so long and steep it could take a train of empty wagons five minutes to pass through.
At one time it was used as a shortcut for Bullo Pill children to reach their school at Soudley.
By 1815 it was shipping up to 1,000 tons of coal and stone daily, but the end of the Napoleonic Wars brought about a recession.
In 1991 the dock at Bullo Pill was cleared of silt and new lock gates installed, but there remains little activity although some private boats are stored and refurbished there.
This link leads to further information.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/03/13/bullo-pill-and-the-forest-of-dean-tramway/
Newnham Salmon Hut is typical of many salmon huts that would have dotted the banks of the River Severn between Gloucester and the sea over the past couple of centuries.
Today less than 10 can be seen with many in poor repair. Many of those have disappeared were little more that temporary shelters to store putcher baskets during the close season, but where the fishery was valuable, controlled by an estate or where a number of fisheries were close together, they were often much more solid structures.
Over the years some have been demolished, others have been converted into dwellings (e.g. Framilode) and some have just disappeared. This is why the one at Newnham is so important and this is recognised by its listed building status.
The salmon huts formed part of each commercial salmon fishery and were used ostensibly to store equipment and provide shelter for the salmon fishermen whilst they waited for the tide, particularly if the long net or putcher, putt fishery was a great distance from the local hamlet. The fireplace would be used to provide heat during the coldest weather by burning driftwood collected from the river. It would also have been used to brew tea and cook a basic meal. When you visit the hut you can see on a map, the locations of the salmon huts that remain today.
It was not uncommon for the huts to be flooded during the highest tides. The one at Newnham regularly floods on the largest spring tides each year. For this reason the equipment the equipment would have been stored upstairs. There are two drainage holes either side of the door to allow flood water to drain out. The grill was to prevent vermin from entering the hut and damaging the equipment especially the nets. The flooring was made of brick to allow the estuary mud deposited on a flood to be easily cleaned out.
thank to Newnham Historical Society for this information https://newnhamonsevern.co.uk/newnham-salmon-hut/
The pretty Haie Lodge (apart from lamentable double glazing on the first floor) guard the drive to the Haie, a mansion house in Newnham, originally built in 1840 and then added to in 1883. It was originally known as Newnham Park.
The Silver Fox is a legendary café which served the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on their UK tours. It was opened in 1947 and, in its 1960s heyday, a stream of top entertainers, pop groups and actors called in for egg, bacon, chips and a mug of tea on their way to and from South Wales, before the M5 and Severn Bridge were built.
As well as the Fab Four and the Stones, callers at the Severnside café in Broadoak might find themselves dining next to Richard Burton, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey on their way to their Welsh homeland, plus the likes of singer Matt Monroe, Status Quo and other musicians en route to shows in Cardiff,
The Beatles played Lydney Town Hall on August 31, 1962, staying the night at the town’s now demolished Feathers Hotel – just four days before first recording with George Martin at Abbey Road and rocketing to fame.
And a jacket once belonging to drummer Ringo Starr was even auctioned by Bonhams in London in 1993 for £220, complete with a “receipt in pocket from Silver Fox Café, Newnham-on-Severn, for egg, chips, bread, butter and tea.”
The catalogue noted: “Has been in the possession of the current vendor for 20 years, when Ringo Starr became too fat to fit into this jacket, and so his mother, Elsie Graves, passed it on to the son of the present owner.”
The Beatles reportedly continued to call in at the Silver Fox en route to Cardiff, playing their last ever full concert on British soil in the Welsh capital on December 12, 1965, while other bands followed them through the café door on tours, including the Stones, who stayed at Monmouth’s Beaufort Hotel in 1964.
Named after its previous use as a farm breeding silver foxes, it is the last remaining traditional roadside café along the A48 between Gloucester and Chepstow.
with thanks to the All our yesterdays Facebook page.
In many ways, Newnham is a backwater but, perhaps because of this, it is well-worth visiting. Among its pleasures is a riverside promenade (with benches, a telescope, and open public toilets) so that we can enjoy the river.