Newport, Pembrokeshire



Newport (Trefdraeth) is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Nevern (Welsh: Afon Nyfer) in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

History
The town was founded by the Norman William FitzMartin (c.1155-1209) in about 1197. He was a son-in-law of the Lord Rhys, who nevertheless expelled him from his former base at nearby Nevern, which had been established by his father Robert fitz Martin. William founded Newport as the new capital of the Marcher Lordship of Cemais and it was a busy port founded primarily on the growing medieval wool trade. Despite seizure from the native Welsh, it remained within the FitzMartin family until the death of William, the 2nd Lord Martin, who died without male heir in 1326.

Newport is a marcher borough. Owen, in 1603, described it as one of five Pembrokeshire boroughs overseen by a portreeve. It retains some of the borough customs such as electing a mayor, who beats the bounds on horseback every August.

The castle built by FitzMartin is situated on a spur of Carn Ingli which overlooks Newport and much of the surrounding countryside. Though in ruins since at least the 17th century, it is impressive due to its site, and a converted house incorporating the castle walls which faces west over the town, the bay and the Irish Sea is still inhabited.

The church of St Mary's, sited below the castle though within the town, dates from the FitzMartin era, and the outside east apse bears their arms ("Argent, two bars gules").

In the 1880s the castle was associated with John Brett, who rented it for his large family while he spent summers cruising the south and west coasts of Wales painting, sketching and photographing. He moored his 210 ton schooner, Viking (which had a crew of twelve) at Parrog.

Newport is known today for its beaches, for the Carreg Coetan Arthur burial chamber and for the West Wales Eco Centre. The town also lies on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, has a youth hostel and is popular for walks in the Preseli Hills. Carn Ingli hill, home to an Iron Age hillfort and some Bronze Age hut circles lies just outside the town.

Newport is twinned with the village of Plouguin in Finistère, Brittany, as well as Annapolis in Maryland in the USA

Notable people



 * Robert FitzMartin, (c. 10??-c. 1159), Norman knight and first Lord of Cemais, founded the Newport Castle.
 * John Grono, (c.1767- 4 May 1847), settler, sailor, ship builder, ship captain, sealer, whaler and farmer, born in Newport, died in Australia.
 * James Bevan Bowen, of Llwyngwair, Newport, High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1862
 * William Edward Cheverton, Saloon Steward on the Titanic.
 * John Seymour, (12 June 1914 – 14 September 2004), author, lived at a farm near Newport between 1963 and 1980.
 * The Incredible String Band, psychedelic folk band, formed in 1966, lived communally at a farmhouse near Newport 1969 - 1970.