Shirenewton

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Shirenewton
Welsh: Drenewydd Gelli-farch
Population	n/a
OS grid reference	ST478936
Principal area	Monmouthshire
Ceremonial county	Gwent
Constituent country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHEPSTOW
Postcode district	NP16
Dialling code	01291
Police	Gwent
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
European Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Monmouth
Welsh Assembly	Monmouth
List of places: UK • Wales • Monmouthshire

Shirenewton (Welsh: Drenewydd Gelli-farch) is a small village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales in the UK.

[edit] Location

Shirenewton is three miles due west of Chepstow, 5 miles (8km) by road. The village stands around 500 feet (154 m) above sea level, and has views of the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel.

[edit] History & Amenities

The name Shirenewton has had several variations over the years, such as Sheref Newton, Neweton Nether Went, and Nova Villa.

The present name derives from the creation of the village in a forest clearing by the Sheriff of Gloucester, Walter Fitzherbert, around AD 1100. It means "Sheriff's New Tun". Tun is the old word for a homestead.

There has recently been some controversy over the Welsh language name for the village, but this has been confirmed by the Place Names Standardisation Committee of the Welsh Language Board to be Drenewydd Gelli-farch, which is normally translated to "new settlement at the stallion's grove". Although, one of the roads leading in to Shirenewton still has the translation as 'Trenewydd Gelli Fach'.

The 1892 Chepstow Directory has an entry for Shirenewton, showing that it had a population of around 650 people at that time. The current population is unknown, but the number of houses in the village has increased markedly in recent years. Many attempts have been made to extend the village, to add small housing estates, but most have come up short due to the village boundaries, and the desire of the locals to keep the village as it is.

Shirenewton, although relatively small, has a collection of four pubs:

The Tan House [1]
The Carpenters Arms [2]
The Tredegar Arms [3]
The Huntsman Hotel [4]

Until recently it sported a small village shop (Spar) which closed in January 2007 and is currently for sale. This took the place of the original 5 Bells shop which shut in the early 1990s, and Ostlers Garage and Shop which closed in the late 1990s. Shirenewton also sported a small village Post Office that unfortunately shut down several years ago. The village also has a modern primary school called Shirenewton Primary that was built in 1985. This lies between the villages of Shirenewton and Mynddbach, and is situated in large open playing fields. The school hosts eight classes, four infant classes, and four junior.

Until recently Shirenewton had a large golf course, which closed down on the 31 May 2005. This has now been turned into luxury houses. The golf course is now being kept as a conservation area. The golf course also houses the abandoned village of Dinham, which also had a small castle, all now left in unrecognisable ruins.

The village of Shirenewton proves itself as an ideal place to live, as it has easy links to the M48 motorway at Chepstow, making access to Newport and Cardiff quick and easy.