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Newent
Newent is certainly one of the most attractive towns in the Forest of Dean area. It is a thriving, unspoilt market town with a wide range of attractions for the shopper and visitor. Many of the buildings date from the 13th century, and centrepiece of the town is the Old Market Hall, which was built in 1668. The area around Newent has long been known for its wild daffoldils which grow naturally in the woods and meadows around the town. Within living memory, they grew in such profusion that school children picked flowers to be sent to hospitals as far away as London. The Great Western railway used to put on special trains to Newent for people to come and pick the daffodils!
Nowadays, being more conservation minded, we come to look at their beauty, and picking of the flowers is not encouraged. Church Street, Newent, showing some of the fine old buildings, and the George Hotel, (the red brick building) built in 1649. The area around Newent has long been known for its wild daffoldils which grow naturally in the woods and meadows around the town. Within living memory, they grew in such profusion that school children picked flowers to be sent to hospitals as far away as London. The Great Western railway used to put on special trains to Newent for people to come and pick the daffodils! Nowadays, being more conservation minded, we come to look at their beauty, and picking of the flowers is not encouraged.
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 The town
has a long history, for finds of Mesolithic and Neolithic
flint 8,000 years and by the Bronze age, metal working
was taking place in the area. It was during the Roman
period however that Newent began to grow in importance
and by the 2nd century AD it was a key settlement with
roads linking it to Ariconium, Gloucester and the iron
ore outcrops at Wigpool near Mitcheldean. The Roman site
at Newent is large, being spread over 117 acres and seems
to have been a civilian venture rather than an official
site, for as well as an industrial area where iron smelting
took place, it has a group of buildings identified as
a workers' settlement and in a separate field, a high
status villa, linked to the other two by a road. By late
Saxon times, Newent was a manor which was held by the
king and soon after the Norman Conquest, a motte &
bailey castle had been built at Castletump to the north
of the village.
Iron working still continued in the area and this helped
establish the village, which by the 14th century had
grown in to a small town. A market was established quite
early and the centrally sited Market House still exists,
although the present structure is late 16th/early 17th
century. The church of St Mary was built in the 13th
century, partially rebuilt after the nave collapsed
in the 17th century and in 1968 its octagonal spire
was partially taken down after it too was found to be
dangerous.
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Tourist Information
 The
Shambles - excellent live museum with streets, shops
etc.
The
National Birds of Prey Centre - a superb collection,
with demonstration flights.
The Daffodils - This is an area of natural wild daffodils
best seen in late March and early April.
Walks
in the Vale of Leadon
Newent
and The Vale of Leadon
Map
of the Vale of Leadon (click on Newent on
the map to return here)
Newent Town Walk
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Accommodation
The
George Hotel Church Street, Newent
The
Yew Tree Inn, Clifford's Mesne
Crown
House (B&B)
Merton
House (B&B)
Sandyway
Countryside (B&B)
Church
Farm (B&B)
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Shops
Newent has a wide range of shopping facilities.
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Local Schools
Newent Community School (Secondary School)
Picklenash Junior School
Glebe Infant School
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Churches
St. Mary's, NewentThis church was a place of worship
in Anglo-Saxon times. In the porch, there is an important
cross shaft of Northumbrian provenance which probably
dates to the 9th century, and was discovered in the
churchyard in 1907. Inside the church there is another
relic which is a unique stone tablet. This depicts the
"harrowing of Hell" on one side and a bishop on the
other. This tablet, which may date from the 11th century,
bears a distinct resemblance to grave slabs found in
Northumbria, though it is thought that it was used as
a portable altar. For over 700 years, the building has
been added to, rebuilt and restored and now attracts
tourists and historians alike with its varied and unusual
architecture and history. The church was built in the
13th century, partially rebuilt after the nave collapsed
in the 17th century and in 1968 its octagonal spire
was partially taken down after it too was found to be
dangerous. The churchyard also attracts historians for
its interesting tombs dating from the 17th century.
The 150 foot high spire on its 14th century tower is
a landmark for miles around marking one of the major
historic buildings in the district. Old Church Records
for family historians
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