BASSALEG, a parish partly in the lower, but
chiefly in the upper, division of the hundred of WENTLLOOG,
county of MONMOUTH, 2 miles (W.) from
Newport, comprising the hamlets of Duffrin, Graig,
and Rogerstone, and containing 1329 inhabitants. The
living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of LlandafF, rated in the king's books at
£14. 13. 6., and in the patronage of the Bishop of
LlandafF. The church is dedicated to St. Basil. There
is a place of worship for Particular Baptists. The
river Ebn, and the Monmouthshire canal, pass through
the parish, which is partly bounded by the river
Severn. A free school is endowed with £20 per
annum. On the brow of a hill, a mile from the village,
there is a circular intrenchment, called Craeg y
Saesson, supposed to have been a Saxon camp, a mile
from which is one called Pen y Park Newydd, probably a
fortress of the Britons. A priory was founded here in
1101, which became a cell to the abbey of Glastonbury.