Did Newport Ever Have a Town Wall?

This intriguing issue was discussed by Bob Trett in Edition No. 11 (Summer 2007) of the Friends of the Newport Ship Newsletter and now gives rise to the following expansion of the subject:

“Did Newport have a Town Wall?” sounds like the type of question put to a school debating society and Bob Trett has dealt with it in a positive and unambiguous way. May I therefore offer my humble opinion on the subject?

My feeling is that if through ancient eyes Newport was seen to have walls, it was merely the extended walls of the fairly new and unsullied castle that were being described. This illusion might even have been enhanced when the weary traveller took his first step through the mighty stone gate that protected the western end of the bridge. Once through this portal the first impression of the visitor might have been that of a tower and a long stone wall on his right and to his left virtually nothing but the river and the emptiness of the castle baileys and fields as far as the Austin Friary. Remember that we are still talking 12th or 13th Centuries and most of Newport’s tiny serf population lived off the beaten track in rude shacks, hidden from the view of passers-by behind the castle in Mill Street, accessible only through the unobtrusive, narrow lane that was to become Thomas Street. Is it any wonder then that, not seeing any semblance of a town outside, our ancient friend might easily have assumed that the castle was a walled town?

The curtilage of the castle in those days probably extended farther westwards because in 1907, when the Savoy Hotel was being built on the corner of Station Approach, excavation exposed stonework of great antiquity which was presumed to be part of the castle.

This discovery caused the architect of the project, Mr Gardiner, to exercise his over-ripe imagination by producing a plan of Newport as a town completely enclosed by a great wall complete with several watchtowers and a wide patrol way along the top!So much for the theories – now to the realities!In the 1,000 years of Newport’s existence nobody has ever admitted to actually seeing a town wall, either complete or ruined.

A murage tax has never been mentioned in connection with any wall other than those of the castle.

The 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries saw great swathes of excavation carved all round the castle and town centre areas for the construction of the canal, the railway and the Old Green improvements. None revealed the slightest trace of the type of masonry associated with large walls!

The subject is one of local history’s many imponderables but “did Newport really have a town wall?” Rightly or wrongly, for the reasons and my (fanciful?) conjecture given above, I am convinced that it did not!

PS. Has anyone thought of sending for the Time Team?

Haydn Davis

The Ship and Medieval Newport

This excellent birds-eye view of Medieval Newport was drawn by Anne Leaver in collaboration with Bob Trett. It shows the Newport Ship laid up beside the River Usk. Bob has explored the evidence that the town had a wall running around at least some of it. ( See his article in the Summer 2007 Newsletter ) As with all postings on our blog your comments are most welcome...

Marie of Bayonne

One of the frustrating things about the Newport Ship is not having a name for it. Without the equivalent of a ship’s bell nobody is going to be certain.

However when searching for a “prime suspect” I have been looking at the names of known ships using Bristol - the nearest big port that might trade with a big ship such as the Newport Ship.

Clues about the Newport Ship are limited. We know the ship was brought to Newport in or after the winter of 1468 because of the dating of wooden props under the ship. We know it could not have been built before 1440 because of the French coin in the keel. We know it was big – over 25 metres long. We know it had Portuguese coins, pottery, and tile on board, but we do not know if it was a Portuguese ship. We also know the ship was badly damaged and there was an attempt to repair the ship at Newport, before it was abandoned.

We suspect it was of continental build because of the structure, and possibly not Portuguese because it was clinker built. Bayonne has been suggested as a possible place where it could have been built.

The ship came to Newport in the middle of the Wars of the Roses. A letter from the Earl of Warwick dating to 22 November 1469 refers to the “making of a ship at Newport”. Payments are made to John Colt (a wealthy supporter and soldier of Warwick’s faction, with no other known local connections) and to Richard Port, William Toker and Matthew Jubber (Jubbz or Jubbes) who were all Bristol merchants.
However as MatthewJubbes was paid in money, iron, salt and other stuff belonging to this ship, I have suggested that it could not be a new ship, but is more likely to be a repair to an existing ship, and therefore a good candidate to be the Newport Ship.

So far the best ‘identikit’ match for a named ship is the “Marie of Bayonne” which was sailing regularly to Bristol before 1468. She was large, 250 tonnes, and in 1458 had a crew of “four score mariners” when she was given a letter of safe conduct by the Earl of Warwick.

There is a lot more work to do in understanding what was going on. Fortunately I can call on advice from leading historians of this period and hope to have more for you soon.