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Newport is defined by its beach - the name in Welsh, Trefdraeth, simply means "Town on the Sands". Newport houses are now amongst the most expensive in West Wales, not simply because of the character of the town or the "golden" sands, but because it is such a complete holiday centre on a par with Tenby, Saundersfoot & St. Davids.
With a diverse range of artists studios & galleries, pubs, restaurants, small shops (including a bookshop and a candle shop) plus a Boat Club and a Golf Club, coupled with a wide range of excellent walks along the coastal path and up to Carn Ingli for the panoramic views. Perhaps now you can see why this little town has become so popular, not only as a place to live, but as an all round holiday centre.
From this "snippet" from over 150 year's ago, you can see its beginnings as a tourist attraction: Newport "consists of numerous small streets irregularly formed, neither lighted nor paved, but naturally well supplied with excellent water. The houses, with some few exceptions, are indifferently built, but, from intermixture of numerous trees with the buildings, the town has, at a small distance, a pleasingly rural appearance; and the surrounding scenery, in which its venerable church and the picturesque remains of its ancient castle form prominent and interesting features, renders the distant view of it strikingly beautiful."
Boating
Newport's days as a port are long over (the river's mouth has silted up) but it is still a boating centre with a thriving club.
Newport Castle
There is a Norman Church (St Marys) and Castle, though the latter has had rather a chequered history. Built on a spur of Carn Ingli by William FitzMartin around 1200 it was destroyed twice in the succeeding 100 years. In ruins by the 17th century and than transformed in the mid 19th century into a home. There is no visitor access to it, as it is still in private hands.
The town has become something an "artisans" paradise and there are many Studios and Galleries both in the town and nearby.
The River Nevern cuts the town off from the beach, but a bridge built in Victorian times (you can still see the former stepping stones at low tide) leads both to the beach and the Golf Club. The estuary is famous for its tremendous variety of birds and it has become an essential part of any "Bird Watching" holiday in West Wales.
Things to see & do in the immediate hinterland
Two ancient attractions are within a few miles. Castell Henllys is an iron age fort with four reconstructed roundhouses to show you what life was like in pre-historic times.
Pentre Ifan is a neolithic burial chamber just over a mile from the town and well worth a visit - certainly on a par with the most visited long barrow - West Kennet in Wiltshire.
From the top of the northernmost peak of the Preselis, Carn Ingli, it is possible on a clear day, to see the Mountains of Snowdonia St Davids Peninsular and the oil refineries of Milford Haven (if industry attracts you!). There is also a neolithic hillfort
Nevern
The town of Nevern is nearby and is, in fact, an even older settlement founded by William FitzMartin's Grandfather - Robert, Lord of Kemmes, who had wrested the area from the Welsh and established his "kingdom" there. By all accounts he was a somewhat superior baron, for he issued all his writs solely in his own name and gave neiither derence to, or mention of the palatinate of Pembroke or even the King of England! More on Nevern's history
Nevern's days of "Imperial" glory
are long gone, but it is a very pretty little village with
an excellent pub, a church that contains the famoys Bleeding
Yew and a motte and bailey castle positioned on the river
above the village. "The grouping of church, vicarage,
school, bridge and inn and the fields and paddocks are essentially
part of the original Norman settlement."
Newport
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