Shirenewton

Shirenewton
Welsh: Drenewydd Gelli-farch
Church of St. Thomas a Becket at Shirenewton
Shirenewton  Shirenewton shown within Monmouthshire
OS grid reference	ST478936
Community	Shirenewton
Principal area	Monmouthshire
Ceremonial county	Gwent
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHEPSTOW
Postcode district	NP16
Dialling code	01291
Police	Gwent
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Monmouth
List of places: UK • Wales • Monmouthshire

Shirenewton (Welsh: Drenewydd Gelli-farch) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, UK. It is located 3 miles due west of Chepstow, 5 miles (8km) by road. The village stands around 500 feet (154 m) above sea level, and has extensive views of the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel.

History

Before the Norman invasion of Wales, the Shirenewton area formed part of the forest of Wentwood (Welsh: Coed Gwent). At the time of the Domesday Book, it was part of the lands at Caldicot which were held by Durand, the Sheriff of Gloucester. Durand and his successor as sheriff, his nephew Walter FitzRoger also known as Walter de Gloucester, had part of the forest cleared around the year 1100, and established a small settlement which was known as "Sheriff's Newton (or New Town)" or, in Latin, Nova Villa. The manor then became known as Caldecot-cum-Newton, and in some documents the village was called Newton Netherwent. "Netherwent" is the English name given to the Welsh cantref of Gwent-is-coed (Gwent beneath the wood, i.e. Wentwood), with "-went" deriving from the Roman town of Venta which became Caerwent. The name "Sheriff's Newton" became contracted over the years into Shirenewton.

After Walter retired to become a monk at Llanthony Priory, he was followed as Sheriff by his son, Milo Fitzwalter (Miles de Gloucester), who became Earl of Hereford and Lord High Constable of England in 1141. The area north west of the village became known as the Earl's Wood about that time, hence modern Earlswood.

Church of St. Thomas à Becket

In the late 12th century the land was inherited by Henry de Bohun. The church was built by his son Humphrey after he inherited the title in 1220, and was dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket who had been assassinated in 1170 and canonised three years later. The chronicler Adam of Usk, who held the post in 1399, was one of the earliest known rectors of the church. Much of the current church, including the fortified tower, choir, chancel and nave, originally dates from the 13th century, although it was partly rebuilt and completely restored in 1853.

The village today

There has recently been some controversy over the Welsh language name for the village. This has been confirmed by the Place Names Standardisation Committee of the Welsh Language Board to be Drenewydd Gelli-farch, which is normally translated to "new settlement at the stallion's grove", although one of the roads leading in to Shirenewton still has the Welsh name as 'Trenewydd Gelli Farch'. According to the 1901 Kelly's Directory, the Welsh name "appears to have been but seldom used".

Mynydd-bach is a community separated by the width of a single field from Shirenewton. The name means, in Welsh, "little hill".

The 1892 Chepstow Directory has an entry for Shirenewton, showing that it had a population of around 650 people at that time. The current population is unknown, but the number of houses in the village has increased markedly in recent years. Many attempts have been made to extend the village, to add small housing estates, but most have come up short due to the village boundaries, and the desire of the locals to keep the village as it is.

Shirenewton, although relatively small, has four pubs: The Tan House, The Carpenters Arms, The Tredegar Arms and The Huntsman Hotel. Until recently it sported a small village shop (SPAR) which closed in January 2007 and is currently for sale. This took the place of the original 5 Bells shop which shut in the early 1990s, and Ostlers Garage and Shop which closed in the late 1990s. Shirenewton also sported a small village Post Office that unfortunately shut down several years ago.

The village also has a modern primary school called Shirenewton Primary that was built in 1985. This lies between Shirenewton and Mynydd-bach, and is situated in large open playing fields. The school hosts eight classes, four infant classes, and four junior.

Shirenewton's large golf course closed in May 2005 and the site has since been developed for luxury housing, althougn part of the golf course has been kept as a conservation area. The golf course encompassed the site of the abandoned manor of Dinham, which also included a small castle, now left in unrecognisable ruins.

"The Grondra", also located in the village, is considered to be one of the finest 18th century country houses in Monmouthshire. The owner was recently fined £40,000, however, after major structural changes were carried out without local authority consent. It is estimated that remedial work, to return the Grade II listed building to its former condition, will cost more than £450,000.

The village of Shirenewton proves itself as an ideal place to live, as it has easy links to the M48 motorway at Chepstow, making access to Newport and Cardiff quick and easy.

External links

• Shirenewton's Official Website
• Shirenewton School's Website
• Shirenewton Church (St. Thomas à Becket) on the Caerwent Parish Group website
• Shirenewton & Mynyddbach Fields Association website
• Shirenewton Local History Society website
• St. Thomas A Becket church
• Geograph photographs
• Kelly's 1901 Directory of Monmouthshire on Shirenewton