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THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, August 30, 1890. 



FRANCHEVILLE OR NEWTOWN. 



The following paper was read by Mr. G. W. Cole- 

 nutt at the meeting of the Hampshire Field Club on 

 July 25 : 



The portion of the Isle of Wight in which this meet- 

 ing of the Field Club is taking place is one of which 

 the past history is of much interest. In taking a 

 hasty survey oi the town or village of Nevvtown, one 

 is struck by the absence of old buildings or any other 

 tangible indications of former importance. It is not 

 in its architectural features, but in its municipal 

 history that the antiquary will find subjects for in- 

 vestigation and study at Nevvtown, and the very 

 absence of any old buildings is of itself interesting. 

 A glance at the map of the Island will show us the 

 town situated on a tongue of. land formed by two of 

 the branching arms of the estuary, known as the 

 Newtovvn river ; and in by-gone times when ships of 

 large burthen were unknown, and when the only 

 vessels were galleys or vessels of light draught, this 

 estuary would have afforded safe anchorage and har- 

 bour. In medieval times there appear to have been 

 six chief towns in the Island, these being Yarmouth, 

 Newtown (or Francheville as it was then called), 

 Carisbrooke, Brading, Sandown (or Sandham), and 

 Woolverton. There seems to be reason for supposing 

 that Woolverton, however, was never of great import- 

 ance, being little more than a large fishing village 

 situate on the eastern shore of Brading harbour. 

 Its site was visited by the Field Club in July, 1887. 

 Of Woolverton, nothing now remains save 

 some obscure traces of the course of 

 the streets in the copse which now 

 covers the ground. The events which led to the com- 

 plete destruction of Woolverton affected Francheville 

 in no less a degree ; but on the ruins of Francheville 

 arose the New-town, and some of its prosperity re- 

 turned to it. One of the first misfortunes which befel 

 the town appears to have been the plundering of it 

 by the Danes in their invasion of the Island in the 

 year 1001, when they virtually took possession of the 

 Isle of Wight and used it as a rendezvous for their 

 pillaging excursions on the mainland. We read at 

 this time of the burning of villages and the destruc- 

 tion of a town called Wealtham. This seems to have 

 boen a large hamlet which stood on the site of the 

 modern Wellow, a village lying between Shalfleet 

 and Freshwater. During the three hundred years 

 following Francheville doubtless shared in the 

 miseries of the dwellers in the Isle of Wight through 

 the repeated raids made by the Normans and the 

 French. In August of the year 1377 the French made 

 a descent on the Island, and Woolverton and 

 Francheville both suffered most severely, being com- 

 pletely burnt to the ground. Yarmouth, or, as it was 

 then called, Eremuthe, also shared a like fate. The 

 inhabitants were so terrified by the successes of the 



invaders that they fled to Carisbrooke Castle for pro- 

 tection. Newport was attacked and burnt, but re- 

 tribution was not long delayed. Sir Hugh Tyrril was 

 at this time captain of the Castle, and with the 

 garrison he made a sally towards the south part of 

 the town, at the same time placing a large portion of 

 his force in ambush. The unwary Frenchmen fell 

 into the trap, and a complete slaughter of the in- 

 vaders was the result. The place of the ambush %vas 

 called in a spirit of derision Noddies' Hill, and its 

 modern name is Node Hill. Deadman's Lane, in the 

 vicinity, also derived its name from this incident. 



The reasons which led to the founding of the New- 

 port operated also against prosperity returning to 

 Newtown, for ships were built of larger size, and 

 trade by the sea was increasing ; the merchants re- 

 sided in the midst of the larger community at Caris- 

 brooke and Newport, and thither the lecal maritime 

 trade gravitated. That Newtown was of little im- 

 portance in the reign of Henry VIII may be inferred 

 from the fact of that king taking no measures 

 to fortify it as he did with Yarmouth, Cowes, San- 

 down, and other places on the coasts of Hampshire 

 and the Isle of Wight. Worsley tells us that New- 

 town was a borough by prescription, and its first 

 representation in Parliament was in the twenty-seventh 

 year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Aymer, Bishop 

 of Winchester, granted privileges to his town of 

 Francheville, of which he was lord, by a deed dated 

 at Swainston ; the legality of these privileges being 

 subsequently confirmed by Edward II, Edward IV, 

 and Queen Elizabeth. Francheville, no doubt, de- 

 rived its name from its rights of holding fairs and 

 markets, and in a charter of Edward II the King 

 grants to his son Edward Earl of Chester, afterwards 

 Edward III, a market to be held at his town of 

 Francheville every Wednesday, and a fair for three 

 days annually on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene on 

 the eve preceding and the day following. No 

 market or fair has been held here for several centuries, 

 and it is doubtful if the privileges were exercised at 

 all after the destruction of the town in 1377. It still 

 continued, however, to exist as a corporate body, 

 and bought and sold real estate under a common seal, 

 a good representation of which may be seen over the 

 inn door, and also in the east window of the church. 

 The qualification of a burgess appears to have been 

 the holding of a borough land, the rent of which was 

 paid to the mayor and chief burgess, this burgage 

 tenure carrying with it also the right to vote for a 

 member of Parliament. Until the passing of the 

 Reform Act, Newtown a typical pocket borough 

 sent two members to Parliament. John Churchill, 

 afterwards Duke of Marlborough, represented this 

 place in 1678. It is not wonderful that round two 

 towns which passed through such vicissitudes as 

 Woolverton and Francheville there should gather 

 legendary matter. In regard to Woolverton, there is 

 a quaint legend concerning its destruction by the 

 French, which is too long to be detailed here. At 



