Newnham

For centuries the Severn has been notorious for flooding during the winter months, and much of the lower-lying land is protected with flood defences. In the 14th century Newnham’s church suffered sufficient damage for the decision to be taken to relocate it to higher ground.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".

During the Civil War, Newnham, like many Royalist garrisons surrounding Gloucester, was on the receiving end of a raid mounted by Colonel Edward Massey’s forces. On 8 May 1644 the Parliamentarians struck. The Royalists appear to have fortified the church and the area of the green, but quickly withdrew to the former. They appear to have been on the point of surrendering when one of them, said to be a servant of Sir John Winter, put a match to a barrel of gunpowder. The explosion blew both men and windows out of the church, though there were no deaths. For whatever reason, the explosion appears to have unnerved Massey’s troops, who then set about butchering the hapless Parliamentarians, killing about twenty of them before order was at last restored. The survivors were given quarter. All, that is, except a Captain Butler, who, being Irish, and therefore a rebel, was killed out of hand.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".

Newnham is a delightful, Severnside town today, just as it was when this scene was captured. The broad verges and continuous avenue of trees bring green, open space to the High Street and make it an attractive place to explore. Although the town does not boast many buildings of historic interest, it has a long and illustrious past. It was once the leading port on the river, and it was from Newnham that Henry II sailed with a fleet of 400 ships and 5,000 soldiers on an expedition to Ireland in 1171.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".

The charming central Green is overlooked by houses and shops, most of which were built in the late 18th and 19th centuries when local merchants invested wealth made in the maritime trade in bricks and mortar. The first greenhouse in England is said to have been made and erected in Newnham by Sir Edward Mansell, who established the country’s earliest coal-fired glass- making furnace at a works to the north end of town.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".

This ornamental clock tower greets visitors who enter the town along the A48 from the direction of Gloucester. It was built in 1875, and an inscribed plaque on its base explains that it was the gift of a local benefactor.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".