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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Newport
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(130,000 in 1991) Cathedral town on the river Usk in Gwent, close to the Roman settlement at *Caerleon and itself of importance from Norman times. The castle, though little remains of it, was first built in the 12C. The cathedral of St Woolos, on top of Stow Hill, is believed to stand on the site of a church of the 6C; the name is a corruption of Gwynllyw, who was supposedly the father of a Welsh Christian leader of that period, St Cadoc. The romantically narrow entrance to the nave, known as St Mary's Chapel, combines Saxon and early Norman elements; the church became the cathedral of the new diocese of Monmouth in 1921.
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The town itself developed largely in the 19C as a port for the coal being mined in the Welsh valleys. Tredegar House, set in a park 4km/2.5m southwest of the city centre, is a very fine redbrick mansion of 1664–72; it has recently been restored by the local council. The Newport Museum and Art Gallery, founded in 1888 but now housed in a modern building, has a good collection of Roman material excavated locally.
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