Newport-on-Tay

Last updated

Newport-on-Tay
NewportfromBridge.jpg
Fife UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Fife
Population4,118  [1] (2022)
OS grid reference NO421279
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NEWPORT-ON-TAY
Postcode district DD6
Dialling code 01382
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°26′25″N2°56′28″W / 56.44017°N 2.94103°W / 56.44017; -2.94103

Newport-on-Tay is a town in the north-east of Fife in Scotland. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport-on-Tay. The area itself has views of the two bridges that cross the River Tay and distant views of the Scottish Highlands.

Contents

History

Historical populations
Census
year
Population

1755751
1801916
18511125
19014720
19513727
20057922
Newport on Tay Church of Scotland Newport on Tay Church of Scotland.JPG
Newport on Tay Church of Scotland

The town was established near the endpoint of one part of a ferry route that itself was started in the 12th century.

In 1715 a new pier and inn were built, the work being funded by the Guilds of Dundee which resulted in the settlement being called "New Dundee". Thomas Telford built a new harbour in the 1820s, and the town expanded and grew into a commuter suburb of Dundee as the prosperous jute manufacturers, industrialists and the middle and upper working class of Dundee established fashionable residences in Newport.

The local war memorial dates from 1920 and was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer. [2]

Newport-on-Tay formerly had two railway stations – the East and West stations on what was the Newport Railway. Both stations (and the Tayport-Dundee branch line) closed in 1969, having lost much of their business following the opening of the Tay Road Bridge in 1966. In fact, trains had ceased to run beyond Newport-on-Tay East station to Tayport on 22 May 1966 so that the railway line could be breached to build the bridge's southern approach road. The Dundee – Newport ferry also closed promptly later in 1966 on the opening of the Tay Road Bridge. However, the ferry terminal buildings and slipways still survive at the foot of Boat Hill as a boat repair yard.

Tayfield House

The substantial estate of Tayfield was created, almost encompassing the whole landward side of the town, by John Berry (17251817) in 1788. The estate stayed in the family for two centuries, with some sections, such as Gowrie Woods, being gifted to the council for public use in 1946. [3] The original house was totally remodelled in 1828 by the architect George Smith, in a Jacobean style, and is now a Listed Building. [4]

Archaeology

An excavation carried out by Headland Archaeology [5] in the farm of North Straiton near Newport-on-Tay uncovered part of a Bronze Age cremation cemetery and a line of postholes. Five human cremations were found in a group of scattered disposal pits. Around 25 metres away was a line of postholes, one of which was also associated with cremated human bone. Radiocarbon dates from the features indicated that they had been created in the Bronze Age, from around 1700 to 2000 BC.

The line of posts was substantial and may have been associated with the cremations rather than a building or fence. It is possible that the posts may have been memorials or markers close to the pyre used to burn the dead. Part of a quern stone and some burnt animal bone suggested that the cremation ceremony also involved preparing food. A collection of pottery was found with the cremations. This included a complete accessory vessel and fragments from a larger decorated pot that covered it.

Present

Newport currently has a population of about four thousand, mostly living in stone houses built before World War II. The town centre comprises two main streets with a small variety of shops and three public houses. The town has one primary school, Newport Primary School. It was built in 1977 by the then Fife Regional Council Architectural Department, with Donald George Beaton working as the school's architect. [6] [7] Older pupils attend secondary school at Madras College in St Andrews, or at Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, or at the nearest independent schools, the High School of Dundee and St Leonards School.

Public bus routes are the 77 to Dundee, 92 to St Andrews, and the X54 to Edinburgh via Glenrothes (and Ninewells Hospital in the other direction)

Newport has been twinned with Zolotarovo, Ukraine since 20 July 2002. [8]

Local amenities

A view of Newport in about 1968 showing the BL Nairn, St. Fillans Church, and the East Station Newport East Station (geograph 3190285).jpg
A view of Newport in about 1968 showing the BL Nairn, St. Fillans Church, and the East Station

Amenities on and around the High Street include food and drink stores, health and beauty outlets, trades and services, a variety of shops, an art gallery and a sports centre.

There are three churches:

A second Church of Scotland church, St. Fillans, originally a Free Church, was demolished in 1981. [12]

Newport-on-Tay and the arts

The arts have played a major role in the shaping of Newport and its neighbourhood. In 1905 the Tayport Artists' Circle was formed, [13] [ full citation needed ] including James Douglas, Anna Douglas, Alec Grieve, Stewart Carmichael, William Bradley Lamond, Charles Adamson and the so-called "Painter's painter" David Foggie. [14] Led by Frank Laing, their aim was to have an influence through art on the industrial environment; this is explained in a letter from Laing to the town planner/architect Patrick Geddes. [15] [ full citation needed ]

Many teachers of fine art in the University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design have migrated towards Newport-on-Tay and its north-west facing position for the incredible quality of light.[ citation needed ] Such heavy-weights in the Scottish art scene as John Byrne, Will Maclean and Marian Leven [16] are associated with the area. A local community arts centre, The Forgan Arts, [17] provides courses in arts and crafts. The Tatha art gallery opened in Newport-on-Tay in 2014. [18] [19] [ full citation needed ]

Notable people

Notes

    Related Research Articles

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tay Road Bridge</span> Road bridge crossing the River Tay, Scotland

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Firth of Tay</span> Estuary of the River Tay in Scotland

    The Firth of Tay is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. Its maximum width is 3 mi (4.8 km).

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    Tayport, also known as Ferry-Port-on-Craig, is a town in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the Firth of Tay opposite Broughty Ferry, a suburb of Dundee. The two were linked by a ferry service until 1939. To the east of Tayport is the vast Tentsmuir Nature Reserve, an area of forested dunes edged by wide sands that continue all the way round to the mouth of the River Eden.

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    The Fife Coastal Path is a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Kincardine to Newburgh along the coastline of Fife. The path was created in 2002, originally running from North Queensferry to Tayport. It was extended in 2011 with a new section running from Kincardine to North Queensferry, then again in 2012 from Tayport to Newburgh. The path, which usually takes between one week and 10 days to walk in full, now runs for 187 kilometres (116 mi). The Fife Coastal Path is managed and maintained by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, a registered environmental charity, and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. About 500,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 35,000 walk the entire route.

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport-on-Tay East railway station</span>

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    The Newport Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line along the south bank of the Firth of Tay in Fife. The line was opened in 1879, and connected to the Tay Bridge, giving quick access to Dundee; daily residential travel to Dundee from Tayport became a practicality.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">John Murray Robertson</span> Scottish architect

    John Murray Robertson FRIBA was a Scottish architect who did much to change Dundee.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tayport railway station</span> Former railway station in Fife, Scotland

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Tarbolton</span> British architect

    Harold Ogle Tarbolton FRIBA (1869–1947) was a 19th/20th century British architect, mainly working in Scotland. He was affectionately known as Tarrybreeks. In later life he went into partnership with Sir Matthew Ochterlony to create Tarbolton & Ochterlony.

    George Ranken Tudhope MD FRSE DPH (1893–1955) was a 20th-century Scottish pathologist and medical author.

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    References

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    3. Greek Secrets Revealed by Ian McHaffie ISBN 978-0-9525026-8-5
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    5. Stronach, Simon; Sheridan, Alison; Henderson, David (2006). "A Bronze Age cremation cemetery at North Straiton, Fife" (PDF). Tayside Fife Archaeological Journal. 12. Fife, Scotland: Tayside and Fife Archaeological Committee: 1–13. ISSN   2632-2420. OCLC   1084407941. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2022.
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    10. "Newport-on-Tay, St Mary's". www.standrews.anglican.org. Perth, Scotland: Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
    11. "Home". Northfifecatholic.weebly.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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    13. The National Archives; BT58/12/Cos/1288A
    14. "David Foggie: The Painter's Painter". www.dundee.ac.uk. University of Dundee. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
    15. University of Strathclyde archives
    16. Annabel (2015). "Marian Leven". Glasgow, Scotland: Compass Gallery. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
    17. "Home". Fife, Scotland: Forgan Arts Centre. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
    18. "TATHA Gallery opens Newport". creativedundee.com. Dundee, Scotland: Creative Dundee. 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
    19. London Times 8 May 2014 page 21
    20. Millar, Alexander Hastie (1912). "Leng, John"  . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. pp. 454–456.
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