Health in Newport 1750-1914

1750-1850

Since the Middle Ages water had been supplied free from wells in Church Aston; now defined by Wallshead Way, originally 'Wellshead'. It was conveyed by two inch (6mm) pipes to four cisterns (tanks) on the High Street. These were at the Talbot Inn (now the Literary Institute), the market square, the Church and church square, which is opposite the Grammar School gates. It is recorded that these cisterns were polluted by dead dogs, urine and the washing of clothes and unsavoury items such as 'calves bellies' . The water was, therefore, unwholesome and it discharged slowly from the lead pipes. High Street properties, being built on sandstone, sometimes had their own wells but these too were often polluted by local effluent. In 1843 using £1,000 from the sale of land to the canal company, the burgesses sank new wells, called 'Baddelys Wells', which are still in use in the Springfields area. They also built a fire reservoir, now Millwood Mere, and put in new mains. They removed the cisterns, and replaced them with hydrants (stand pipes) at various points around the streets. There was also mess from the cattle market on the High Street, horse dung, slaughter houses & tanners and the smell from the overcrowded churchyard. There were no sewers - everything was swept into the street and then eventually into the drains.

In 1801 the population of Newport was 2,307 and, while nationally the population doubled by 1851, Newport's population had risen by only 600. This included a massive influx of Irish. Nearly everyone lived on or near the High Street: an area confined by Beaumaris Road to the east and Audley Road to the west. People lived over the businesses with their family, servants and apprentices and also down the yards and alleys off the High Street in crowded cottages. Sometimes these were called 'Courts'. Yards such as Cock Yard and Bellmans Yard also contained horses, cows and pigs. Rich and poor lived next to each other, just as they had since the Middle Ages.

1850-1914

From 1850 with increased prosperity the town was improved. The High Street was re-paved with granite setts. Cattle was moved off the High street to a new livestock market behind the new Market Hall (1860), called the Smithfield. The churchyard was closed and a new cemetery opened up in 1858. Report after report shows Newport with no sewage system and crowded yards with 13/15 people in one bedroomed homes. In Cock Yard alley in 1861, 19 families had their homes. Half were families from Ireland. Pollution was worse than before. Cesspits, tanneries and new industrial businesses drained into the Marsh Brook (Audley Road area) in the east and the River Strine to the north. These were in effect open sewers; the smell was reported as reaching as far as Longford. In 1875 elected District Boards were set up with wide powers over health, water, housing, disease and highways, and in 1894 these in turn were replaced by the modern system of District Councils. Dustcarts now took rubbish away weekly to a tip – today this is Norbroom Park. There was strong opposition to improvement in sanitation and water supply, and it was not until 1904 that a completely new system was installed with a new sewage works, which is still used today. Much of these changes were due to the work of local doctors. Newport was served by a dynasty of doctors for over 200 years beginning with Doctor Baddeley and then the Elkington family. Ernest Elkington had studied in Paris under Pasteur and understood about germs and infected water even if local people did not.

By 1901 the population was 3,241. This was really a decrease because poverty had forced many people to emigrate. Since 1850 the better off had left the High Street to live in Station Road, Wellington Road, Chetwynd End and Avenue Road; leaving the workers in overcrowded, decaying houses off the High Street.

By 1900 there was still no hospital; just a small isolation hospital on Shuker Close. A Hospital Sunday Committee raised money to send people for treatment at Stafford or Shrewsbury. In 1894 Mary Roddam set up a system of district nurses based at Roddam House on the High Street. They dealt particularly with infant welfare, but people had to pay a weekly subscription.

A full album of images relating to this theme can be found by clicking on 'More Images: Health in Newport 1750-1914' on the side menu.