Religion in Newport 1750-1914

1750-1850

St Nicholas Church was built in the Middle Ages. Until 1700 it had been bought and sold like any other property but in that year subscriptions were raised and its tithes and property were bought for the church. A rectory was purchased in St Mary Street, but it wasn’t lived in great deal, because the minister was a lowly curate who made his living by also being a master at the Grammar School.
By 1799 the church itself was in a poor condition with the lead roof causing the walls to buckle. The town, it was said, was too poor to carry out repairs. At this time the minister lived at Tong. Improvements in 1837 had made the inside worse with huge galleries while outside the present churchyard was covered with houses: 12 were demolished in 1823, 14 in 1831and the rest finally cleared in 1904. The place was unpleasant and sometimes chickens scratched in the churchyard.
The Catholic faith was maintained in Newport by the Earls of Shrewsbury, who had members of the family living at Longford Hall. Their chaplain was the catholic priest for Newport until the present Catholic church was opened next to Salters Hall in 1832.

There were Presbyterians in town in 1751 and Quakers met in the old market hall. There were Congregationalists in 1765 who built a chapel in Beaumaris Road in 1803 and a new one (United Reform Church) in Wellington Road in 1832. The Methodists were in Newport in 1799 and converted a former theatre in Upper Bar into a church in 1830. By 1831 Primitive Methodists also had a chapel at 6, Stafford Road, still called 'Chapel House' today.

1850-1914

In 1864 the Rev David Mountfield became the first rector in his own right. He immediately made changes. As he could not live in the Grammar school, Beaumaris House in Lower Bar, was bought as a rectory. He was instrumental in the rebuilding of the south side of the church between1883-5 and the north side was completed in 1890-1. His next project was a school and money was raised to build the Church of England School (now Newport Junior) in Avenue Road in 1873. An Infant School was added in 1898. With the removal of the last churchyard houses a new south porch was built and iron railings and gates erected. These were removed for scrap metal in the Second World War.
The Methodists built a new chapel in Avenue Road in 1876 which was closed in 2000 when they amalgamated with the Congregational (United Reform) church in Wellington Road to form the Trinity Church. The chapel is now converted to a private house. The Primitive Methodists opened another church in Wellington Road also in 1877. After extensive alterations to some coach works on Canal Place, a mission room was created in 1891 (now Cosy Hall).

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