NEWTOWN, a parish and market-twon and borough (newly-created), and, jointly with Llanidloes, the head of a union, in the
upper division of the hundred of NEWTOWN, county of MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES, 8' miles (S. W. by W.) from Montgomery, and
179 (W. N. W.) from London, on the road from Welshpool to Aberystwith; containing 4056 inhabitants, and with Pen-y-
Gloddva, nearly 6000. Very little is known either of the origin or the early history of this place, which since the
beginning of the present century has, from the celebrity of its flannel manufacture, risen into importance, and obtained a
distinguished rank among the manufacturing and commercial towns in this part of the principality. The name, which is
synonymous with TrAnewydd, that given to it by the Welsh, is evidently in allusion to a somewhat recent date, but whether
with reference to its origin, or to any more ancient town that previously existed near the site, has not been ascertained.
On the banks of the Severn, at the distance of about a mile, on the left of the road to Welshpool, are some remains of a
British encamp.. ment, but no historical event is recorded which in any way connects it with the town; and on the right of
the same road are vestiges of the Roman way from Caer-Sws to the Geer, near Montgomery. At the former of these places
coins, bricks, and other relics of Roman antiquity, have been discovered; and there are some remains of the castle of
Dolvorwyn, near the town. During the civil war of the seventeenth century, Charles I., on his way to Chester, was
hospitably entertained for two days and nights by Sir John Pryee, at Newtown Hall, the residenee of that family since the
time of Henry VI., on his departure from which he narrowly escaped being made prisoner by Sir Thomas Myddelten. The TOWN
is situated ina beautiful valley on the banks of the river Severn, and consists of one principal street, intersected by
several, smaller streets; the old houses are in general of timber and brick, but those of modern erection are of handsome
appearance. A substantial bridge of stone over the Severn was completed in 1827, in lieu of an ancient one of wood that
stood near the site: the structure, which is called the Long Bridge, consists of three arches of more than sixty feet
span, and connects the parish of Newtown with Pen-y-Gloddva, Frankwell, and the Basin, which are in the parish of
Llanllwchaiarn, having been erected within the last seven years on the opposite side of  the river, and now form part of
the town; the arches and the parapets are of grey freestone, and the piers and spandrils of blue stone found in the
neighbourhood; the bridge was erected by the county, at an expense of more than £4000. A stone bridge of one arch was
built in 1823, over the town brook, on the road to Welshpool, and, by way of distinction, is termed the Short "Bridge. The
town, which appears to be more flourishing, and to be rising into greater importance, than any in North Wales, is
indifferently paved, partially lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. Considerable improvements have taken place
within the last few years, among which is the construction of a road leading through the heart of the county of Radnor to
Builth, and forming the most direct road from Chester, and the northern parts of Wales, to the south-western part of
England. A book society was established in 1830, which is liberally supported by subscription among the inhabitants of the
immediate vicinity. The environs abound with pleasing and interesting romantic scenery, and a fine view of the town is
obtained from the summits of the hills on the north and south sides. At the distance of about a mile and a half on the
road to Build', is a picturesque and strikingly beautiful spot, much resorted to by the inhabitants: from the summit of a
shelving mass of rock, eighty feet high, a stream of water rushes with impetuosity, forming in its descent a fine cascade,
and winds at the base through a glen richly planted with shrubs and trees of various kinds. The parish contains 2580a. Ir.
16p., nearly the whole under cultivation, and including 40 or 50 acres of woodland; on the banks of the Severn, which
intersects it from west to east, the surface is flat; in other parts there is a pleasing alternation of hill and dale. The
soil, though much mixed with stones, which are thrown up in ploughing, is generally of good quality, and capable under
skilful management of producing plentiful crops of all sorts of grain; the arable and grass lands being about equal in
extent, and the rateable annual value of the parish amounting to £9078. The staple TRADE of this place and its
neighbourhood is the manufacture of flannel, which was first introduced about fifty years since, and for several years
conducted upon a small scale, the average number of pieces not exceeding ten per week. The superior fineness of the Welsh
wool, and the peculiar softness of the water of the Severn, however, afforded every facility for conducting the
manufacture to advantage; and the skill and care bestowed by the masters on the finishing of the goods have distinguished
the flannels of Newtown for unrivalled excellence of quality. The manufacture is now carried on to a very considerable
extent, affording employment to more than three thousand persons in the town and vicinity, in which not less than fifty
factories have been established, working fifty thousand spindles, a thousand two hundred looms, and fifty carding-engines,
which are propelled by water and steam. The average number of pieces, each containing a hundred and sixty yards, at
present manufactured, is two hundred and fifty per week, which are of the finest quality, and obtain a ready sale in the
market held every alternate Thursday, in a spacious building recently erected, and opened on September 6th, 1832, the
proprietors of which are shareholders of £25 each. Previously, the market for the sale of flannels had been held at
Welshpool, but the manufacturers and other inhabitants of this place erected the above-named building, with the view of
withdrawing it entirely from that town, and establishing it permanently here. Connected with the factories there are not
less than twenty fulling-mills and several extensive bleaching-grounds; and machinery of every description  is also made
in the town, as well for general purposes as for the improvement of the manufacture, into which it has been introduced
with complete success. A foundry upon a large scale has been built, in which castings, and articles of every description,
are made; and there are also potteries for the coarser kinds of earthenware, and several tanneries and malt-kilns, a
considerable trade being carried on in malt. An act of parliament was obtained, in 1814, for extending the Montgomeryshire
canal from Garthmill to this town, a distance of eight miles, which has been carried into effect with great benefit to the
trade of the place; the line, which is called the Western branch of the Montgomeryshire canal, was opened on theist of
March, 181tik and, in the course of the following year, the basin, three hundred feet in length and a hundred wide, was
completed. Several convenient wharfs and yards have been erected for storing coal, bricks,'slates, timber, and other
articles of merchandise, and numerous lime-kilns have been built along the banks of the canal, which has contributed to
facilitate the conveyance of the heavier articles of manufacture, and to supply the neighbourhood with commodities of
every kind. The markets, which are abundantly supplied and well attended, are on Tuesday for corn and provisions, and on
Saturday for provisions only; the tolls belong to Viscount Clive, as lord of the manor of Cedewen, in which the town is
included. The market-hall is a plain brick building, situated in the centre of the principal street; the lower part is
appropriated to the use of the corn-market, and the upper to the sale of wool, of which considerablequantities are pur-
chased every market day. The fairs are on the first Tuesday in February, the last Tuesday in March, the first Tuesday in
May, June 24th, the last Tuesday in August, October 24th, and December 16th: of these the May, June, and October fairs are
very large, and amply supplied with horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and all kinds of wares; and at the October fair, of which
the first day is always for sheep and pin more than eighteen thousand sheep are generally sold. By the act of 1832, for
"Amending the Representation," Newtown has been constituted a contributory borough, uniting with other towns in the county
in the return of a member to parliament: the right of election is vested in every male person of full age occupying,
either as owner or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of not less than ten
pounds, provided he be capable of registering as the act directs; and the present number of such tenements within the
limits of the borough, which are described in the Appendix to this work, is two hundred and sixty. The town is within the
jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty-session for the division on the first Monday in every month; and
constables and other officers are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, annually at Easter. It is supposed
that the county gaol was formerly in this town, and near the market-place is an ancient building, now converted into a
public-house, which is still called the " Old Gaol," but will probably be taken down with a view to the improvement of
this part of the town. The LIVING is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £8. 15.; present net income, £406, with a
glebe-house, a modern and handsome building, and about four acres of land; patron, Bishop of St. Asaph. The church,
dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a low square tower
surmounted by a belfry of wood; the interior consists of two aisles, separated by a central range of pillars and pointed
arches of wood, which support the roof, and a chancel, divided from the body of the church by an elaborately carved and
richly gilt and painted screen, removed hither from Abbey Cwm Hir, in the county of Radnor; there are some marble.
monuments, chiefly to the family of Pryce, of Newtown Hall; and numerous texts of scripture in frames are hung round the
walls: it will contain about 300 persons. Her Majesty's Commissioners have proposed a grant of £4000, for an additional
church, and land for a burial-ground adjoining the site, on condition that the inhabitants shall raise among themselves
£1500 by subscription; and the plan for its erection received the approval of the Commissioners in 1841. There are places
of worship for Baptists, Wesleyans, Independents, and Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. An academy for the education of young
men for the ministry among the Independents was removed to the town from Llanvyllin, in 1821, which, together with a
grammar school attached to it, is supported chiefly by the congregational fund under the superintendence of the Board in
London. To this institution Thomas Jones, who died in 1813, was a liberal benefactor. Having by his will, dated in 1810,
bequeathed £1600 for its promotion, and for other benevolent purposes, which, though not strictly connected with this
place, may, perhaps, not be inappropriately noticed in the present article, he directed that £1400 of the sum should,
immediately after his death, be placed out at interest on real or government security, and the principal not be claimed
for two years; the interest of £700 to be divided among poor dissenting ministers, no annual benefaction to exceed £5; and
the interest of the remaining £700 to be paid annually to the treasurer, in aid of the North Wales circulating charity
schools: and he further ordered, that the interest of the residue, £200, should be applied annually for distribution among
so many of the most necessitous and deserving of the students of the academy as the tutor should fix upon. At the period
specified in the will, the executors paid over to the trustees £810, being the amount, £900, minus legacy duty, bequeathed
for the charity schools and the students, and which had been placed out on good security at five per cent. The interest of
£180 is annually paid to the master of the academy, who divides it equally among nine students, who are educated
gratuitously by the London Board, the .academy being principally supported by voluntary contributions; and the proceeds of
the remainder of the £810 are divided amongst the circulating schools, now reduced to three, of which the benefits are
extended among the six counties of North Wales successively, the establishments remaining not longer than a year in one
place. Each master receives £10 annually from the bequest, leaving a small surplus to meet casual expenses; and they also
receive £10 each in addition from the ministers. which are raised by subscription. Of the other £700, the interest of
which was to be divided among poor dissenting ministers, a great reduction occurred, in consequence of one of the
executors, a brewer at Chester, becoming a bankrupt in 1823: by the legacy duty, the original bequest had been reduced to
£630, and for this claim the charity received out of the bankrupt's effects £359. 2. 8., the interest of which is
distributed according to the will. There are eleven day schools, in which about 150 i boys and 150 girls are instructed at
their parents' expense; £4. 3., interest on a bond of the trustees of the first district of the Montgomeryshire turnpike-
trust, arising from a sum of £83, offertory money, placed in their hands, being annually paid to a mistress of one of the
schools, for instructing eight poor children, nominated by the clergyman. Five Sunday schools are also carried on, one of
which, in connexion with the Established Church, contains about 100 males and females, and in the other four, appertaining
to various denominations of dissenters, about 1380 are taught; these schools are conducted gratuitously, and that
belonging to the Baptists has a lending library attached, which is maintained by subscription. A dispensary was instituted
in 1825, by William Pugh, Esq., of Bryn Llywarch, who, during the first year, defrayed the whole expense of its
establishment, amounting to more than £200; it is now supported by general subscription among the inhabitants, and is
productive of great benefit to the numerous families employed in the manufactures of the place. William Jones, of Newtown,
in 1738, granted a rent-charge of 10s.; Elizabeth Evans, of Maddox-street, Hanover-square, in 1815, bequeathed £300,
vested in government securities, and yielding a dividend of £9; and an anonymous benefactor gave £10;. the interest of all
which is distributed at Easter and Christmas among the poor. The charities that have been lost are, a bequest of £10, by
Catherine Edwards, in 1734, a similar one by David Powell, and another of £5, by David Price. The poor law union, of which
this town, conjointly with Llanidloes, is the head, was formed February 13th, 1837, and comprises the following seventeen
parishes and townships; namely, Newtown, Aberhavesp, Bettws, Llanlligan, Llanllwchaiarn, Llanwyddelan, Manavon, Tregynon,
Llanidloes, Carno, Llandinam, Llangurig, Llanwnnog, Penstrywed, Treveglwys, Kerry, and Moughtrey: it is under the
superintendence of 21 guardians, and contains a population of 25,958. At a place called Castell-y-Dale, about a mile from
the town, are some faint traces of what is supposed to have been a castle; but the walls are nearly all mouldered away,
and its origin and history are lost in antiquity. In a fine park adjacent to the town, on the west, stands Newtown Hall;
and the surrounding country is enlivened by numerous other gentlemen'S residences, among which may be mentioned Black
Hall, Bryn Llywarch, Dderw, Ded^ vorgan, DOlvorwyn Hall, Glin-Havren, and Cregynog.