NEWPORT, a parish and sea-port and market-town, in the union of CARDIGAN, hundred of KEMMES, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH
WALES, 19 miles (N. E. by N.) from Haverfordwest, and 24t (W. by N.) from London; containing 1750 inhabitants. The
ancient British name of this place, Treedraeth, signifying literally " the town on the sands," appears to have been
derived from its situation on a sandy beach of considerable extent, which intervenes between it and the bay of Newport.
The town is indebted for its origin and early importance to the descendants of Martin de Tours, the first lord of Kemmes,
which territory be had wrested from the Welsh by conquest, and erected into a lordship marcher, and whose son William
built a castle at this place, which he made the head of his barony, and vested with many privileges. The same nobleman
bestowed upon the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, vesting the government of the town in a mayor and burgesses, to
whom he gave an extensive grant of lands, with liberty to -hold a weekly market, and several valuable immunities, all
which were confirmed, in 1192, by his son Nicholas, who granted common pasture, and water from the fosse, and whose
charter declares that the burgesses " ought to have a bailiff and common council." The lordship was entirely independent
of the palatinate of Pembroke; the lord held his courts in the castle of this place; all writs were issued in his own
name exclusively, and neither in that of the Earl of Pembroke, nor even of the king of England. In 1215, the castle was
taken by Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, but it soon afterwards reverted to its original proprietors, whose descendants continued to
hold it, together with the lordship in which they exercised jura regalia, till the time of Henry VIII., when all such
jurisdictions were abolished. Under the protection of its ancient lords the town continued to increase in extent and
wealth, and enjoyed many additional privileges, of which some were granted to the barony in the 34th year of the reign of
Elizabeth. It had become extremely populous, and carried on an extensive woollen manufacture, about the commencement of
the sixteenth century, when a pestilential disease occasioned such mortality among its inhabitants, that its market was
transferred to Fishguard, the trade of the port ceased, and the town fell into decay. The market has however been re-
established, and some little addition to its trade has gradually taken place since that -period; but the town has never
recovered its former importance. It stands on the high-road from Cardigan to Fish-guard, and is pleasantly situated at the
mouth of the river Nevern, which falls into St. George's Channel at Newport bay, and on rising ground ascending gradually
to the Cam Ingle mountain, which shelters it from the south-easterly and south-westerly winds, and rises to a considerable
height beyond the town; it consists of numerous small streets irregularly formed, neither lighted nor paved, but
naturally well supplied with excellent water. The houses, with some few exceptions, are indifferently built, but, from
intermixture of numerous trees with the buildings, the town has, at a small distance, a pleasingly rural appearance; and
the surrounding scenery, in which its venerable church and the picturesque remains of its ancient castle form prominent
and interesting features, renders the more remote view of it strikingly beautiful. The trade principally carried on is the
working of some extensive quarries of slate, with which the neighbouring coast abounds, and of which great quantities are
shipped to various places, the vessels being enabled to approach close to the quarries, and to receive the slates from the
overhanging cliffs; and in the burning of lime for the supply of the adjacent districts, in which a considerable portion
of the population is employed. A vein of alum shale is said to lie within a short distance of the town, but it has never
been worked. There is a good salmon-fishery on the river Nevern, which in favourable seasons is carried on with advantage;
and a herring-fishery also exists here; but the demand is so inconsiderable that it is not productive of much benefit
to the persons engaged in it. The port is subject to the customhouse of Cardigan: the principal exports are corn and
butter, and the produce of the quarries; the chief imports are coal, calm, and limestone. The harbour, which is small, has
its entrance partially obstructed by a sand bank; but it affords good shelter to the coasting vessels occupied in the
trade, and to the boats connected with the fisheries. A compact and well protected bay, on the south and east, stretches
out before the town, from which it derives its name. The rateable annual value of the parish has been returned at £1994.
4. The market is on Friday; and fairs take place on June 27th and October 16th. The town retains the ancient form of
government which it held under the charter granted by William, son of Martin de Tours, and afterwards confirmed by his son
Nicholas; and the control is vested in a mayor, bailiff, and an indefinite number of aldermen and burgesses. The mayor,
who acts as a sort of head constable, is appointed by the lord of the borough from two burgesses presented by a jury; the
bailiff:, or pound-keeper, is chosen by the mayor; and the body of aldermen consists of those who have served the office
of mayor. Courts leet and baron occur twice in the year; the petty-sessions for the hundred are held in the town on the
first Friday in every month; and Newport is a polling-place in the election of a knight for the shire. The freemen, who
are appointed by presentment of the jury, at one of the courts leet, are entitled to common and pasture upon the waste
lands, which are about three miles in circumference. The boundaries of the borough are co-extensive with those of the
parish, and are well ascertained, being duly perambulated at certain periods. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in
the king's books at £16, and endowed with £400 parliamentary grant; present net income, £216, with a glebe-house; patron,
Thomas Lloyd, FAq., of Bronwydd, lord of the manor. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient and venerable
cruciform structure, partly in the early style of English architecture, with a square tower at the west end; the roofs of
the nave, chancel, and transepts are of carved oak, and are supported on ranges of plain pointed arches; and in the
chancel are two stone canopies plainlywrought: over the nave is a richly wrought open spire for a bell, and the windows
exhibit tracery of considerable elegance. The building recently received an addition of four hundred and eighteen
sittings, towards defraying the expense of which the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches and chapels
contributed £200, in consideration of which grant two hundred and eighteen sittings are free. On the west side of the
porch are the ruins of a detached house, said to have been the record office of the town. There are places of worship for
Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic Methodists. A school on the National system is supported here on the foundation of
the late Mrs. Bevan, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children; it is a permanent establishment, and the central
school in which are prepared the teachers who superintend the several circulating branch institutions connected with the
foundation. The school contains about 150 males and females; and the master has a salary of £40 per annum, together with
a house and garden rent-free. This plan of "circulating" instruction was originally projected by the Rev. Griffith Jones,
of Llandowror, in the county of Carmarthen, in the article on which parish a more detailed account of it is given. Two
other day schools afford education to about 50 children, at their parents' expense; and there are also four Sunday
schools gratuitously conducted, of which one contains about 140 males and females, who attend the Established Church, and
in the other three, respectively apPertaining to Methodists, Baptists, and Independents, about 300 persons are taught. On
an elevated knoll, rising abruptly at the extremity of the principal street of the town, are the remains of the ancient
castle, consisting principally of one of the circular bastions that defended the grand entrance, the other having fallen
down some years since, and some portions of the dungeons, between which and the town was a subterraneous communication,
discovered within the last few years; the bottom of it was flagged, and the sides and the roof were secured by smooth
stones. The castle was surrounded by a moat, and though the ruins bespeak it to have been originally occupied as a seat of
baronial magnificence rather than a fortress, it was no doubt well adapted to both purposes, and in its general
construction appears to have combined strength with elegance. The bay of Newport, bounded by the headlands of Dines and
Ceibwr, opens beautifully in front, rendering the situation peculiarly delightful. Beyond the site of the castle rises the
lofty rocky eminence called Cam Ingle, where St. Brynach, to whom many churches in Wales are dedicated, is said to have
passed his life in religious seclusion, and to have conversed with angels, from which fabulous tradition this place has
been termed also "Mons dinfelorum." There are numerous Druidical remains in the vicinity; and near the mansion of
Llwynygwair, but within the limits of this parish, is one of the most perfect cromlechs in the principality, though on a
small scale. On a bill connected with Cam Ingle is a large stone, named Morris' Grave. According to Speed, there was
anciently a house of Augustine friars at this place, but no particulars of its foundation or history have been preserved.