Firstly the speaker  (non 27th November 2019) must be congratulated for carrying on with his talk despite problems with his voice.

His talk started with the earliest days of the area then known as Stow
and in which Newport was of little consequence compared with Caerleon, which had the only river crossing and was the axis for the through routes based on the ancient Roman roads and which connected through places such as Caerwent.

Newport’s status changed after the Norman Conquest when Robert Fitz Hamon, the Earl of Gloucester, took control of the town. Soon it expanded and grew rich with three important centres being the Castle, the Church of Gwynllywy at the top of Stow Hill (now the Cathedral of St Woolos) and the Priory of Austin Friars.

The story was developed and it was interesting to hear of the existance of places still known today such as Skinner Street, Mill Street, Pill and Baneswell. It was brought to an end with an account of the Newport Boat and its discovery.