The
first settlement (before the Norman foundation of Newport)
was on Stow Hill. The name "Stow" shows Anglo-Saxon
connections with the area, but the original settlement by
tradition relates to St Gwynllyw (St Woolos) founding the
church in the fifth or sixth century. After the Norman Conquest
Robert fitz Hamon seized Wentloog, and the settlement is
thought to have expanded down Stow Hill, and the new borough
established by the town bridge. At some point a castle was
built to protect the bridge and the town.
St
Woolos Church
(SMR references 220468
& 08205g ST 33090 18760)
According
to an early 13th century manuscript "The Life of S.
Gundleus" (i) and other early accounts, the church
of St Gwynllyw (later corrupted to Woolos) was founded by
the Welsh ruler St. Gwynllyw in the fifth or sixth century,
after his conversion to Christianity. A chapel dedicated
to his wife, Gwladys, allegedly stood by the crossing of
the Ebbw River, on the southern slopes of Stow Hill. These
accounts were written centuries after the events they describe,
and rely mostly on the oral tradition passed down the generations
by Welsh bards. They are also contradictory at times but
it is clear that the name Gwynllyw gave its name to the
Welsh cantref known later as Wentloog.
The
earliest surviving parts of the church (the present St Woolos
Cathedral) date to the Norman period. The decorated doorway
in St Mary's Chapel with its naively carved capitals, together
with the five bay nave of the main church, are twelfth century,
with the walls of the chapel believed to be thirteenth century,
and the tower late fifteenth century. The statue of a knight
on the tower is thought to be the then lord of Newport,
Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke and duke of Bedford. It was
once thought to represent St Gwynllyw himself, but a Tudor
rose and other designs under the parapet of the tower suggest
it could be Jasper. Other parts of the present cathedral
are post medieval or modern.
After
the establishment of the new borough (Newport) the church
remained just outside, within the Manor of Stow. The 1427
charter given to Newport identifies the graveyard of St
Woolos as being on the boundary of Newport. At the end of
the 11th century the church was given to the monastery of
St Peter at Gloucester by Robert de Hay. The church was
at times the centre of disputes over its rights, but it
remained the parish church for the borough.
The
road from Newport Bridge through Newport High Street and
Stow Hill split just above St Woolos Church. One road (now
Friars Road) was the former way to Cardiff, whilst the other
road along Stow Hill went to Bassaleg and to the north of
the lordship via the Ebbw Valley, but was also the way to
Caerphilly.
The
Tithe Barn
(SMR reference 00157g ST
33087 18756)
Around
the south side of the church was a small cluster of houses
including The Tithe Barn which is on the site of
offices currently belonging to Kier Western. A building
south of the church and probably the tithe barn, is shown
on a Survey of Newport in 1752 by Thomas Thorpe. The barn
is again shown on the tithe apportionment of 1845 and is
described as the "Rectorial Tithe Barn and Yard, 24
perches in size, occupier William Jones". It is also
marked on the 1/500 Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1881.
A wall of stone rubble with some partly dressed stone blocks
can still be seen from the road facing the church. Some
of the stone work seems to be a crude chequer pattern of
grey and red sandstone. Disputes over tithes are mentioned
in documents in 1146, 1239 and 1255. In 1321 Hugh Audley
is said to have burnt some barns at Newport - although it
is not known whether this included the tithe barn.
Stow
Hill Motte
(SMR
reference 00157g ST 33048 18743)
A
mound, probably from a Norman motte and bailey castle, used
to stand in the grounds of the former Springfield House.
The mound is clearly shown on the 1845 tithe apportionment
map, standing in the middle of a field. This site is in
or near the back garden of 28 Stow Park Avenue, and close
to the Springfield Day Centre of St Woolos Hospital. According
to the Newport historian Octavius Morgan the mound was traditionally
believed to be the burial place of St Gwynllyw, and was
covered by spoil from the railway tunnel which runs underneath.
The summit of the mound was flat and exactly 50 feet in
diameter. Other 18th century writers including William Coxe
refer to it as the "barrow called Twyn Gwnlliw".
It
is probable that the mound was not a barrow but a castle
mound, probably 12th century, and that it was probably the
precursor of the present Newport Castle by the bridge. It
would have had a timber keep on the mound, and possibly
a bailey with a timber palisade. It has also been suggested
that the castle on Stow Hill was in use as the castle of
Newport until the 14th century. However there is no proof
of this - except for the fact that the later stone castle
at Newport has no evidence of any building stage prior to
the 14th century. It is also questionable whether the lord
of Newport would have left the new borough unprotected,
in view of the importance of the river crossing.
Possible
site of Manor House?
(ST
3308 1878 approx.)
The
first Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows a large double-banked
rectangular structure marked Ancient Remains to the
north of Stow Hill, approximately at the junction of the
present St Woolos Road and Jones Street. The site is marked
on an 1837 map of Newport (showing proposed changes to the
municipal boundaries of Newport) as an oval shaped mound.
These "Ancient Remains" are outside the earlier
boundary of Newport and are in the Manor of Stow. A field
shown on a map entitled "Plan of Newport from actual
Survey 1836" shows a kink in its boundary corner at
the same location. The 1845 tithe apportionment map of the
area shows this location to be at the junction of four fields,
with the most northern field (marked 297) having a protuberance
on its boundary at the spot.
There
is no other evidence at present to demonstrate what this
feature was. However William Rees in his "Charters
of Newport" published in 1951, claims that the lord's
manor of Newport was at Stow, near the church of St Woolos
where, adjacent to the manor-house, was the usual complement
of buildings, also pigeon cote and fishpond. It will need
further investigation to establish whether this was the
Manor House site.
The
Stow Manor Pound
(ST
33082 18759)
This
is shown on a map of Newport of 1752 by Thomas Thorpe, where
it is to the west of the tower of St Woolos Church, just
outside the churchyard as it was then. However presumably
because of an extension to the churchyard the pound had
been moved by 1845. The 1845 tithe apportionment map shows
it much further to the west of Stow Hill and beyond the
then Union Poor House (at ST 33041 18755).
This later pound is marked as "Manor Pound 1½
perches, owner Sir Charles Morgan Baronet".
Stone Quarry
(SMR 00168g ST 330900 187700)
The
accounts for repairing Newport Castle in 1447/8 refer to
a payment to Thomas Galett for the digging and carriage
of "wall-stone" from the ground of the lord near
Stowe, formerly of the Abbot of Keynsham. This has been
assumed to be "Church Field", later to be the
burial ground for St Woolos Church, and now a small park.
It is likely that most of the sandstone used in the buildings
of medieval Newport was quarried from Stow Hill and other
surrounding hills.
The
Wayside Cross
(SMR 00209g ST 33101 18789)
10
on the conjectural view of Medieval Newport
The
base of a medieval cross stood on Stow Hill on the north
corner of Havelock Street. The base was removed in recent
years to the churchyard of St Woolos Cathedral. It has probably
wrongly been associated with the ornate head of a fifteenth
century cross founding the River Usk near Newport Bridge
in 1925. This cross head represents the Crucifixion with
what appear to be the Virgin Mary, St John, St Catherine
and St Margaret. The head is now in Newport Museum, with
a modern replica of the cross standing in Newport High Street.
(i) British Library MS. Cotton. Vespas D.xxii
©
Bob Trett 2007
