Newent (Virgin Mary)
NEWENT (Virgin Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Botloe, W. division of the county of Gloucester; containing, with the tythings of Boulsdon with Killcot, Compton, Cugley, and Malswick, 3099 inhabitants, of whom 1454 are in the town, 8½ miles (N. W.) from Gloucester, and 112 (W. N. W.) from London. The name, according to Leland, was derived from a "new inn" erected for the accommodation of travellers, when the communication to Wales was first opened this way; other houses were successively built, until the place became a town: the site of the old inn is now called the Boothall. A Benedictine priory, a cell to the abbey of Cormeille, in Normandy, was founded here soon after the Conquest; and on the suppression of alien priories it was given to the college of Fotheringhay. The town, which was formerly more extensive and populous than at present, is situated westward of the river Severn, in the Forest of Dean, and is irregularly built. Near it are some mineral springs, which possess the same qualities as the Cheltenham water. The Hereford and Gloucester canal passes through the parish; and at the end of the town, on the road to Ledbury, a very commodious wharf has been constructed. The market is on Friday; fairs are held on the Wednesday before Easter, the Wednesday before Whitsuntide, and Aug. 12th, and a statute-fair on the Friday after September 8th. The powers of the county debt-court of Newent, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Newent. The parish comprises 8019a. 3r. 6p., of which 6843 acres are arable and pasture, 965 woodland, and the remainder the site of the town and roads. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £23, and in the patronage of Miss Foley: the tithes have been commuted for £1541. 15., and the glebe comprises one acre. The church is a spacious fabric, the work of different periods; over the porch is a tower with a lofty spire, built in 1679, as was also the roof of the nave: the old church fell down in 1673. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The poor-law union comprises 18 parishes or places, 14 of which are in the county of Gloucester, and 2 in each of the counties of Hereford and Worcester, containing altogether a population of 11,687.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.