Newport village

Newport Parish occupies part of Wallingfen Common, which in the 18th century was a large partially undrained area in the southeast corner of the Vale of York stretching from Broomfleet (along the Humber) northwards beyond the River Foulness, with North Cave to the east and Gilberdyke and Bishopsoil Common to the west. Much of the Wallingfen depression lies below high tide sea level (2 to 3 metres), and was marshland.

Forty-eight townships had Rights of Common on Wallingfen, using it for summer grazing; taking game, fish, turves, reeds, winter fodder etc. and the Cave Causeway (route to Howden) crossed the fen in roughly the same place as the present main road. In the 1760s, as farming methods evolved and enclosures were taking place, landowners from Market Weighton, wanting to get their produce more quickly to the lucrative markets in the West Riding, provided the impetus for constructing a canal from Market Weighton to the Humber.

The Market Weighton Navigation and Drainage Act was passed in 1772, when it was considered feasible to construct a canal for both transportation and drainage. The first stretch opened in 1776 and the canal was completed in 1782. Unfortunately, mainly because of the projected cost of building locks to raise the Canal in the northerly section, it ended some 2 miles short of Market Weighton.

The Enclosure Acts were passed in 1777 and implemented by 1786. Five hundred acres on either side of the Canal, south of the road, were enclosed in two farms by the Drainage Commissioners, the managers of the canal, in lieu of drainage taxes to help towards costs of construction. Land alongside the Canal, around the bridge, was obtained by the Canal contractors, James and John Pinkerton, possibly in part payment of their contract. The rest was allotted to those who had Rights of Common on the fen.

There were three distinct parts of the village - New Village was an extra parochial area (south of the road and both east and west of the Canal); New Gilberdyke (north of the road and west of the Canal) and Newport (north of the road and east of the Canal). Good beds of clay were found during the construction of the canal and small works associated with brick and tile manufacture sprang up alongside, probably using the spoil that had been dug out. The industry flourished, and land adjacent to the canal was extensively excavated as major brickworks evolved on either side to the north of the bridge. Output from the brickworks peaked in 1840, at a time of great demand from new building in the expanding towns.

For some time the canal prospered with Humber keels carrying out bricks, drain pots and farm produce and bringing in manure and West Riding coal for the kilns and for the new communities springing up around the new canal. A large warehouse was constructed close to the bridge to take deliveries of produce awaiting transport and coal yards developed at the foot of the bridge.

In 1840 the Hull to Selby railway was opened and in 1885 the Hull and Barnsley railway arrived, providing a stop at Newport in Wallingfen Station. The advent of rail transport significantly reduced the navigational use of the canal and took trade (especially coal trade) away from the canal. Gradually trade dwindled to a few boats taking out the bricks, tiles and pipes. In due course, the railway service itself was reduced, and by 1955 Newport (Wallingfen) Station had closed to all passenger and freight traffic. The lorry was now considered to be a better form of transport but contributed substantially to the heavy volume of traffic through the village. By 1965 the Hull and Barnsley railway had closed altogether.

The last clay works in Newport closed in 1972 and workers transferred to the Broomfleet brickyard. Volume of traffic through the village remained very high and was relieved only with the opening of the M62 motorway, completed in 1976, and constructed along the line of the old Hull and Barnsley railway. As navigational use became less important, the canal as a drain became more important. The deliberate practise of maintaining high water levels for navigation continued throughout the late 19th Century and early 20th Century which resulted in parts of the land still being flooded periodically. But this dual-use of the canal was never wholly satisfactory. If the water was kept low to assist drainage then the boat owners complained; if it was kept high to suit the mariners then the farmers complained. The Market Weighton Drainage Board, created in the 1930s, quickly sought to improve the drainage by firstly, lowering the water level in the canal, which was by then almost redundant for navigation, and secondly, by straightening and improving the River Foulness. The improvements undertaken by the Drainage Board resulted in the eradication of flooding to most of Wallingfen.

Following the Enclosures Act allocation, a few houses were built outside the village centre by those allotted outlying land, and some increased their holdings by purchasing from those who did not wish to keep their allotment or who could not afford to fence and hedge it. Cottages and lodging houses were erected along each side the main road and on the east and west banks of the canal around the road bridge. To many locals this area became known as 'Brig' and the name carried on right up to the 1970s.

Being a village with no Lord of the Manor, Newport was an 'open' village with few restrictions. There were 5 public houses but no Church of England representation until 1895. Prior to this, residents used the churches at Eastrington, North Cave or Blacktoft for their baptisms, marriages and burials. It was left to the non-conformists to provide for religion and early schooling within the village and the first Methodist building dates from 1789 and is unusual in that it has a burial ground. The early settlers in Newport came from many of the 48 hamlets allotted land, and perhaps some of the workers employed in building the canal stayed. Irish immigrants arrived for seasonal land work and indeed brickyard work, which was also seasonal. Along with brick making, agriculture continued to provide the main employment. As drainage improved however, land-use changed from pasture to arable, and market gardening became more prominent.

By 1980 the two housing estates were under construction, drawing-in people from the surrounding villages and towns. Employment in agriculture was in steady decline, and Newport was gradually changing to become a commuter village with its good road transport links and opportunities to find employment further afield became realisable. More recently some light industrial development has started to thrive to the east of the parish.