LOCATION

Newtown

A small market town pop. 11,000, Newtown is set in the heart of the Montgomeryshire countryside on the banks of the River Severn. Designated an area of outstanding natural beauty it is rich in stunning landscapes and is one of the most beautiful areas in Wales.Newtown is over 700 years old. St Mary's Church served as its parish church from the 13th to the 19th century. The ruins contain the grave of the renowned Pryce family of Newtown Hall.

Newtown's most famous son and father of the Co-operative Movement, Robert Owen was born in 1771. Apprenticed to a draper, he rose to be a factory manager and showed that it was possible to run a profitable business while treating his workers fairly. He provided them with good living and working conditions and education for their children.

In the first 40 years of the 19th century Newtown became a major centre of handloom weaving. There were 1200 handlooms in the town. An enterprising draper, with Queen Victoria as one of his customers, Pryce-Jones began the first ever mail order business and Welsh flannel went all over the world.

During the 1960's and just a few miles from Newtown, Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard expanded production of, what was to become, a world famous fabric, furnishings and fashion business. Laura Ashley continue to manufacture in and around Newtown to this day.

W.H.Smith began as a 'news walk' (paper round) and became a pioneer in new ways of distributing papers, from bicycles and horse-drawn newspaper carts, to motor vans and station bookstalls. The façade and interior of their shop in the High Street has been restored to the original design of 1927. Upstairs, there is a museum re-creating their history.

Roger Mortimer was granted the right to hold a weekly market on Tuesdays in 1279 and the 'New Town' grew up around the market. The Tuesday street market has been held here ever since, stretching the length of Broad Street and along the raised pavement of the High Street, with an additional street market on Saturdays. The Old Market Hall used to be in Broad Street, between Bear Lanes and Castle Vaults, whereas the current Market Hall, built in 1870, is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The market stalls stock everything from fresh fish, meat, eggs and vegetables to carpets, china, antiques and bric-a-brac.

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