New Town Creek - history ?

[chillee]

Anyone on here an expert on New Town Creek? Every time I come home from a visit there I kept meaning to research what the walls are you can see at low tide.
A quick google shows that in the mid 1300's New town was a thriving harbour, the biggest on the Isle of Wight, that also had a thriving saltworks and oyster beds. Until it was hit by the plague and then ransacked by the French which virtually wiped the town out.
By the end of the 1500's, the town was in real decline and the harbour was silting up.

So what I am not sure on is, are the walls you can see at lowtide the remnants of the harbour, which would mean it was quite some size, or perhaps the walls of the saltworks.
Anyone know any more ?

 

[Scubadoo]

Funny enough I was thinking the same, only a few weeks ago I took my tender over to the wall to take a closer look and sat there wondering about the history and purpose (thanks for the insight). Apparently there is more history information at the old town hall, but was closed when we went. Some useful info on the National Trust website of the area and where to visit to explore the area. Things to see and do at Newtown National Nature Reserve

 

[Lucky Duck]

The land now owned by the NT includes fields which were flooded back in the 1950s, the wall may well what is left of the sea defences there.

 

[rafiki_]

There is a small Town Hall just on the main road from Cowes to Yarmouth at Newtown. Interesting old building.

This is on Wiki
Newtown, Isle of Wight - Wikipedia

 

[chillee]

My inquisitiveness has got the better of me this afternoon and I did some more research when I should have been listening to conference calls :-(
Anyway, it would seem that the walls are thought to have been part of a reclaimed land exercise between 1656 and 1768. Either for grazing or salt production.
I guess the inlet itself was the harbour before it silted up. I also understand there is part of the old harbour wall by Newtown when you head west after enteringNT creek. I don't have a dinghy so never been to look.

I found some of this info here if anyone is interested - http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/smp/...ainDoc/Chapter4/Chapter4_PDZ7_Dec10_Final.pdf

Oh, also, I found that the National Trust bought New town creek with the help of donations because there were plans to build a nuclear power station there. Imagine that. Where would we go on a balmy summers day if that had happened

 

[mjf]

Indeed

Very nice wood floor on 1st Floor

There is a small Town Hall just on the main road from Cowes to Yarmouth at Newtown. Interesting old building.

This is on Wiki
Newtown, Isle of Wight - Wikipedia

 

[boatmike]

Going back earlier than all that Newtown used to be the capital of the IOW but it was sacked several times by the French causing it to be moved inland. The walls are partly a remnant of the old harbour and partly a result of reclamation work as previously said. The town hall is the only remnant of what used to be a thriving trading and commerce centre.

 

[DPH]

Article today in the county press with some history.
The great flood of Newtown

 

[chillee]

Thats really interesting, thanks for sharing. No wonder there is so much of the old wall still showing, if it was only lost to the sea in the 70s