Newland (All Saints)
NEWLAND (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Monmouth, hundred of St. Briavell's, W. division of the county of Gloucester; containing, with the chapelries of Bream, Clearwell, and Coleford, and the tything of Lea-Bailey, 4127 inhabitants, of whom 627 are in the tything of Newland, 4 miles (S. E. by S.) from Monmouth. The parish is bounded on the west by the navigable river Wye, and comprises by computation 8000 acres, the soil of which rests on limestone: the surface is strikingly diversified; the hills in some parts have an elevation of 800 feet above the sea, and the valleys are watered by numerous rapid rivulets. Redbrook, formerly the site of the earliest copper-smelting furnaces in England, is now celebrated for the manufacture of tin plates, of which from 400 to 500 boxes are produced weekly; there is also an iron-foundry. In these works about 120 men are constantly employed. Coal and iron-ore are obtained in the neighbouring Forest of Dean, and stone of good quality for building is extensively quarried. Facility of conveyance is afforded by the Wye, which flows up to Redbrook; by the tramroads from Coleford to Monmouth; and by numerous tramroads from various parts of the Forest to Gloucester and other places. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 6. 10½.; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Llandaff: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £525. The church is a large structure, with a handsome tower ornamented by pinnacles and open-worked battlements. There are chapels of ease at Clearwell and Redbrook; and chapels, forming separate incumbencies, at Coleford and Bream. The Baptists and Wesleyans have places of worship. Adjoining the churchyard are, a free school, and an almshouse for four persons of each sex, both founded by Edward Bell, who in 1651 endowed them with an annuity of £20: the income, with subsequent donations, has been raised to upwards of £180. Almshouses for 8 aged men and 8 women were founded in 1615, by the family of Jones, who also endowed a lectureship with £68 per annum. The remains of High-Meadow House, which was garrisoned by the troops of Charles I. when the parliament had possession of Gloucester, are still visible here. In Birchamp is a spring of water which in purity is not inferior to St. Ann's well at Malvern.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.